Global Youth Sevens (fka World School Sevens) is a two-stop invitational series occurring this weekend in Australia and then Dec. 15-17 in Auckland, New Zealand. Three U.S.-based teams will feature in the New Zealand leg: Southern California’s Belmont Shore, Hawaii’s Pasefika and the USA Rugby U18s. The pools and schedule are not yet available; however, the event’s Instagram (@globalyouth7s) is active and useful. [Lead photo: Majestics sent 3 players to the USA U18 (Amy Nicholson)]
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BELMONT SHORE
The Southern California team is well known on the nationwide youth 7s circuit and Global Youth 7s – which is an invitational – took notice. Eleven players have been selected to the travel roster and they hail from nine different high schools in SoCal. St. Anthony and Lakewood high schools have two representatives apiece in Auckland. Sydney-Rae Lolesio-Pua and Khalea Pahulu are the captains.
It’s also worth noting that Belmont Shore alumna Sariah Ibarra, who has been playing and studying at the Hamilton Girls High School, was named to the New Zealand U18 7s team.
Renny Faletoi-Jennings – Garden Grove
Allie Honeycutt – Lakewood
China Lindblad – Mira Costa
Nalu Liufau – Walnut
Nila Lolesio-Pua – St. Anthony
Sydney-Rae Lolesio-Pua – St. Anthony
Eli Luga – Corona
Brianna Massion – Valley Christian
Khalea Pahulu – Lakewood
Ula Pulu – Maui HS
Lolua Tauanu’u – Long Beach Poly
PASEFIKA
The Hawaiian club has named 15 players to its travel roster. Perhaps the most prominent is the quartet who traveled to Ireland last summer with EIRA: Katija Crawford, Kahiwalani Kahalepuna, DaviAnn Pula and Osooso Sulunga. Elisa-Manaia Atuaia just signed with Central Washington University and was the Wildcats’ first commit for the 2024-25 season. Oaklynd Malufau represented the North Shore team at the USA U18 High Performance West Camp during the summer, and also served as NAI 7s captain alongside Zariyah Danielson.
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USA U18s
As one might imagine, the USA age grade team features many familiar players, but there are a few new names at the national level. Captain Annie Henrich is not one of them, as the Dartmouth commit has been a prominent U18 player for years. The Buffalo-area senior is one of three players from the east coast, joining West Carroll’s Rebecca Balladares and Knightmare’s Bella Vogel. Life University commit Vogel recently led Knightmare to a repeat Rugby Pennsylvania 7s championship.
Columbia Central’s Kiyanah Edwards is new to the pool and the lone player from the South. Edwards’ home team, the Tigers, also recently won the Tennessee high school 7s title. Chloe de Leon is a familiar entity and the only player out of the Midwest. The Indiana player booted up with Noblesville during the fall and is originally from Brazil.
The rest of the team is from the Rocky Mountain region and farther west. Paola Arredondo Almeida picked up the game in Summit, Colo., and the Dartmouth player is one of three current collegians in the squad. Madison Jersey is now at DI Elite powerhouse Lindenwood University and has Fallbrook (Calif.) origins. Long Island University’s Kori Fields started playing at St. Mary’s (Stockton, Calif.) and then followed her older sister, Harvard sophomore Cameron, into NIRA.
Lionala Mayorga is part of this stellar freshman class at Davenport University and will reunite with former Majestics (Utah) teammates Marley Larkin and Harmoni Hopoate, who most recently won Utah 7s this fall. The trio were all big contributors to the Majestics’ high school club 15s national trophy. Lola Unga also competed at 2023 club nationals last spring and led the San Mateo Wolverines in their debut. Vasiti Turagavou is a newer face on the national stage, but not to Utah, where the Provo player is a prominent force.
Paola Arredondo Almeida – Dartmouth College (Summit HS, Colo.)
Rebecca Balladares – West Carroll, Md.
Chloe de Leon – Noblesville, Ind.
Kıyanah Edwards – Columbia Central HS, Tenn.
Kori Fields – Long Island Univ. (St. Mary’s HS, Calif.)
Annie Henrich – Orchard Park, N.Y. (c) (Dartmouth commit)
Lilian Harmoni Hopoate – Majestics, Utah
Madison Jersey – Lindenwood Univ. (Fallbrook HS, Calif.)
Marley Larkin – Majestics, Utah
Lionala Mayorga – Davenport Univ. (Majestics)
Vasiti Turagavou – Provo, Utah
Lola Unga – San Mateo Wolverines, Calif.
Annabella Vogel – Knightmare, Pa. (Life Univ. commit)