Photos: Diane Ramage
Atlantis is back on the road and sending two teams to this weekend’s North American Invitational (NAI) 7s in Salt Lake City. The select side is fresh off its runner-up performance at the Paris World Games and ready to test the depths of its player pool.
RELATED: Atlantis 2nd at Paris World Games • 2016 NAI 7s All-Star Team • NAI 7s Resources
“With the Junior Olympics just over one year away, we are really concentrating on developing the next generation of young female rugby players,” explained Atlantis U18 Director Wayne DiMarco. “With this in mind, we have entered two teams in the North American Invitational 7s Tournament: a U16 girls’ team playing in the U16 division and a U17 girls’ team playing in the U18 Elite division.”
The group is young, with 16 of the 24 athletes age-eligible for the U16 team. There is a concentration of players from the New Jersey / Pennsylvania/ Maryland / Virginia region, but California, Texas, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin are also represented.
“We are very proud that some of Atlantis’ top players will be representing the USA against Canada the same weekend,” DiMarco referenced this week’s Can-Am Series between the Girls’ High School All-Americans and Canada U18s. “Losing these players for the NAI, however, has opened up opportunities for more young players to play high-level 7s. And after our Paris World Games tour, we are excited to see our experienced players such as Alie Ramage, Alex Pipkin, Clara Lemal-Brown, Megan Bird and Ariana Ramsey continuing their confident play by leading this new group of young talent.”
The group will also benefit from a pair of exceptional coaches. Josie Ziluca returns from her head coaching post at the Paris World Games and will lead the U17s. Penn State coach and former Eagle Kate Daley joins the staff as well and will head up the U16 team. The players will be divided into two 12-player squads after pre-tournament practices.
The U16 team will play in a five-team bracket, joined by South Bay (article forthcoming), Land Park JV, Idaho Grey Wolves and Arizona Bobcats. The U17s competing in the six-team U18 Elite division will take on the Atavus All-Stars, Land Park, Utah Lions, Rocky Mountain Rebels and Idaho Grey Wolves.
Visit www.nai7s.com for more information.
ATLANTIS U16 & U17s – NAI 7s
Player – Home team, home state
Megan Bird – Oak Creek, Wisc.
McKenzie Borchers – Kingwood, Texas
Kate Buzby – Coronado, Calif.
Julia Golik – Kingwood, Texas
Tiyanna Hooker – South Jersey, N.J.
Clara Lemal-Brown – Hudson, Ohio
Noelle Lewis – Fairfax Police, Va.
Sophia Linder – White Horse, Pa.
Sofia Mancini – Moon Area, Pa.
Nina Mason – Doylestown, Pa.
Madeleine Maurice – North Bay, Md.
Allie Mennella – Morris, N.J.
Matalasi Morrissette – West End, Va.
Talosia Morrissette – West End, Va.
Alex Pipkin – North Bay, Md.
Alie Ramage – Morris, N.J.
Ariana Ramsey – White Horse, Pa.
Dasia Recio – Kingwood, Texas
Kayla Reighn – Doylestown, Pa.
Jordan Roe – Conestoga, Pa.
Cheyenne Staab – Liberty North, Mo.
Kaitlyn Schwarting – North Bay, Md.
Sydney Smith – North Bay, Md.
Kai Templeton – West End, Va.