All eyes among those following age-grade sevens are on Buenos Aires as the Youth Olympics get set to kick off.

The USA team is in training and has been for a few weeks now. That in itself has been a big job — players have had to take semesters of school, find ways to keep studies going while not physically attending class, or have taken gap years to compete in this event.

"We made it clear that you had to be available for this," said head coach JD Stephenson. "It's a huge commitment, but that's what we needed from them."

The team spent some time training in Chila Vista, where they scrimmaged against the women's team (and were humbled into appreciating the fitness, dedication, and organization of the Eagles). 

"The women's team got the better of us," said Stephenson. "It's a testament to the hard work they've put in."

What the Women Eagles provided was a good test of decision-making and speed of reaction, as the women's team's line speed was so great that the U18s were forced to react.

"That was a really good challenge for us," said Stephenson.

Now the job is to get 12 players from different walks of life to all play together. 

"It's truly a game that requires cohesion," said Stephenson. "No 14 minutes is the same. So we know this is a challenge, but as coaches we need to understand what makes everyone ticks, and the players need to have that self-awareness, that self-regulation."

Stephenson said that David Fee, Shalom Suniula, and Brendan Keane have done great work in getting the squad working together. In addition, before they left for South America the players met with USA Sevens captain Madison Hughes, who spoke about playing in the 2016 Olympic Sumer Games, and met with Vili Helu about playing in the 2014 Youth Olympics. They spoke about distractions, handling pressure, and how to focus on what needs to be done.

In addition, the groundwork laid by Salty Thompson to prepare these players in the EIRA and HSAA programs has been crucial.

In-team leadership has been key, too, and Alex Clearly has stepped up (Cleary was the flag-bearer for the entire US delegation, see above). With Junior Waqavesi being the playmaker as well as captain, he needs someone else to take the leadership burden.

"There's a danger that Junior does too much, but Alex has been immense in terms of driving standards. They are a good combination," said Stephenson.

This is a varied team, with out-and-out pace, shiftiness, and power, too. Stephenson said they can play many different kinds of games.

"What was important for us was to give these guys time together," said Stephenson. "We know that the 2014 team didn't have much prep time. That's changed now."

The USA opens up action October 13 at 1:40 PM local time against France.