Photo: Kelsi Stockert •
The Olympics are over, and a new 7s cycle has begun. Last weekend’s Atavus Elite 7s tournament offered a glimpse into the rising class, as the Women’s Collegiate All-American (WCAA) 7s team joined four Atavus sides and Scion. The WCAA 7s ended with a runner-up performance against club 7s champion Scion.
While there was a mix of familiar and new faces in U.S. jerseys, only Ashlee Byrge and Alena Olsen had represented the WCAA 7s at the 2015 Elite City 7s, the age-grade team’s first appearance.
“With this being the first event into the new cycle, we definitely had an eye toward selecting some younger players for the experience,” said WCAA 7s coach Brandon Sparks. “Last year was a very senior side with established and well known players. It’s easy to make a super star team … but it’s important to keep this as a developmental performance tool. This country is too big to keep looking in the same place [for players] over and over again. We’re ahead of the curve on sport science, and there are athletes at Nowhere University who are taking their rugby just as seriously as someone at a big program.”
Sparks added Maria Michelotti (Montana State) and Davon Thomas (Lindenwood University) after their performances at the USA Rugby College 7s Championship. Nikki Ciccarelli (Mount St. Mary’s) was plucked from the NSCRO All-Star team at CRC 7s, and Mckenzie Koval (Michigan State/Grand Rapids) emerged from the local 7s circuit in Spark’s home state, Michigan. Colorado State’s Macie Helgenberger was added from the club 7s championship while representing Glendale.
The newcomers paired with some players already in the system or on the radar, but who were new to the WCAA 7s jersey: 15s Eagles Tess Feury and Kelsi Stockert, Bulou Mataitoga, Kaitlyn Broughton and Stephanie Browne. Sparks spent four days generally isolated from the concurrent Atavus 7s camp occurring in Glendale, so he could afford a lot of one-on-one time with players.
The WCAA 7s big competition was the Scion Rugby Academy. On day one, the All-Americans dropped a 27-5 loss to the National Development Academy.
“The players took a lot away from that game in terms of the difference in pace and size and experience,” Sparks said. “We went back to the film and came back much better the second day and had a 19-5 showing. We gave up three soft tries in the first half and then locked it down.”
Sparks was very pleased with each player’s daily improvements, and everyone scored at least one try during the two-day tournament. There were some standouts, however.
“Bulou [Mataitoga]. Man, she’s good,” Sparks enthused. “She had this one play that looked like it came out of a video game. She reached up with one hand, grabbed the ball, dummy-faked with the same hand and scored against Scion. It was one of those moves where everyone on the sideline said, ‘Did you just see that?’
“That’s ball-in-hand, but her defensive work rate was out of this world,” the coach continued. “Sometimes you’ll see a player gamble on an intercept, and if it doesn’t pay off, they’ll turn around with their hands on their hips, like, ‘Oh man, if only.’ With Bulou, she instantly turned back around, and her work rate went up to make up for the gamble she missed. That’s how she held up two separate tries in two different games against Scion.”
Talent identification is what the early phases of any cycle are all about, and then it’s getting those players into the system and playing games. Sparks indicated that if he could have invited more players, he would have looked at NOVA’s club 7s team, particularly Frankie Beller, Lindenwood’s McKenzie Hawkins and Montana State’s Dallas Flager, all of whom left lasting impressions from various national championships.
The cycle ends, of course, at the 2020 Olympics, where rugby 7s will feature once again. All of the players in Colorado got to connect with that momentous event, as Jill Potter was on hand during the tournament and camp.
“It was really cool to see the impact that the Olympics had on the players, especially for those who aren’t coming from big programs … or hadn’t been told what USA Rugby has to offer in regard to age grade programs or elite teams,” Sparks said. “Players were legitimately excited to meet Jill. ‘I’ve read about her and saw her on t.v. She’s so great!’ Even the established players were really pumped to meet her and see her there.”
The WCAA 7s have closed on their assemblies until January, but the Girls High School All-Americans will be convening in early September for their trip to the European U18 7s Championship. Additionally, this weekend is a USA 7s tracking camp, and more names will be added to the watch list.
WCAA 7s @ Atavus Elite 7s
Kaitlyn Broughton – Life Univ. / Old Blue
Stephanie Browne – Orlando
Ashlee Byrge – Davenport Univ.Nikki Ciccarelli – Mount St. Mary’s
Tess Feury – Penn State
Macie Helgenberger – Colorado State / Glendale
Mckenzie Koval – Michigan State / Grand Rapids
Bulou Mataitoga – AIC / Berkeley
Maria Michelotti – Montana State
Alena Olsen – Univ. Michigan / Legacy Rugby AcademyKelsi Stockert – Seattle Saracens (c)
Davon Thomas – Lindenwood Univ.
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