Dzaran, one of four West End players, is the lone Atlantis alumna. /// Photo: Rachel Applegate Thorne •
Atlantis entered the month of July with its team for the North American Invitational (NAI) 7s all set. But then invitations to the Girls High School All-American (GHSAA) assemblies started going out, and eight players opted to attend the East camp, which coincides with the Salt Lake City tournament. That put the staff under some stress, but the player search proved rewarding.
“When eight of our original players were called up to GHSAA, we were worried, but we’ve found some amazing talent from teams around the country,” Atlantis manager Diane Ramage explained. “Emil [Signes] made a few phone calls to coaches – that he once coached when they were players – and the names started pouring in. There are lots of incredible athletes out there, we just had to find them.”
The original Atlantis squad included Alex DiMarco, Alie Ramage, Brianna Vasquez, Emily Henrich, Jodi Losch, Liz Wilson, Paige Krahling and Sam Tancredi, and they’ll be aiding the All-Americans against Quebec on Friday and Sunday. The current team includes Kathleen Dzaran, the lone Atlantis alum, and Julie Riekena, who played with the All-Americans at the Vancouver 7s.
“Most of our players are pretty well known in their local area or region, and some have even played at LVI or [High School Rugby Challenge],” Ramage added. “I’m sure once this team hits the pitch on Friday morning, there will be additional names added to the GHSAA ‘watch list.’”
The Atlantis squad includes four college-bound players, all of which are from the West End Ruckettes in Virginia: Carly McMahon and Maddie Deaton have signed with Lindenwood; Dzaran is attending BYU; and Gabbi Hall heads to the University of South Carolina this fall. There are also eight states represented on the 12-player team: Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Montana and California.
“Another interesting twist to this year’s tournament is with the coaching,” Ramage continued. “Saturday morning’s first match has Tom Feury, head coach of the [Play Rugby USA] Community Olympic Development Program, taking the opposite side of the pitch against his protégé, Kevin Corley, head coach of Atlantis U18 girls and soon-to-be assistant coach at Life University.”
There will be many common threads in the NAI 7s Girls U18 Elite Division, which brings seven all-star sides together on Friday and Saturday. Read more on the teams attending.
ATLANTIS U18s • NAI 7s
(Player – Home club/state, high school graduation class)
Lauren Buchholz – Oak Creek, Wisc., 2018 Maddie Deaton – West End, Va., 2016 (Lindenwood)
Grace dePoortere – Morris, N.J., 2017 Kathleen Dzaran – West End, Va., 2016 (BYU)Gabbi Hall – West End, Va., 2016 (Univ. South Carolina)Alex Pipkin – North Bay, Md., 2019 Ariana Ramsey – White Horse, Pa., 2018 Loren Lewis – ICEF, Calif., 2017 Carly McMahon – West End, Va., 2016 (Lindenwood)Julia Riekena – Missoula, Mont., 2018 Cheyenne Staab – Liberty North, Mo., 2019 Kelsey Svaasand – Morris, N.J., 2017
