The Cannibals won the West RCT. /// Photo courtesy Utah Cannibals •
There was no shortage of talent on display during last weekend’s Regional Cup Tournaments (RCTs), and Utah, New Jersey and Wisconsin took home top honors from their respective all-star events.
Wisconsin claimed the most hardware, as its varsity and junior varsity teams returned from Charlotte, N.C., with trophies. The trip also showcased the state’s depth. Midwest powers Divine Savior Holy Angels and Catholic Memorial weather burnout per their busier spring schedules, and contributed four players to the travel team. The rest of the league aptly filled the all-star ranks. The varsity team went 3-1, working its bench in a one-point loss to Tennessee before defeating Ohio’s Celtic Elite 60-7 in the final. Overall, Wisconsin defeated varsity opponents 160-46.
“What the results of the RCT tell me is that the rest of our league is pretty strong,” reported Wisconsin Girls 7s director Rick Bellis. “Every team was represented. On Saturday, we had 13 tries by eight different players from six different teams.”
The JV side played close games against Tennessee and Virginia on day one, and then posted shutouts in the rematches Sunday for a 4-0 record.
The Utah Cannibals defeated Mid-America, Idaho, Colorado and Minnesota en route to the Rocky Mountain Challenge (West RCT) title. Coach Matt Kanenwisher indicated that the games were much closer than the results suggest, and the all-star team did a good job flourishing under some positional restraints.
“For example, we didn’t have anyone try out who played 10 or 15 on their home team,” Kanenwisher explained. “So we taught a couple of sisters – Olivia Vailahi and Monika Vailahi – these key positions, and it was awesome to watch them pick it up and run with it.
“The other great thing for me was watching those players who make everything happen but aren’t necessarily the ones scoring the try,” the coach continued. “It’s great to see these all-stars play who don’t really care to act like an ‘all-star.’ Alexia Tiatia is a loose forward from Kau Toa who just makes things happen. She consistently provided structure and got the ball moving forward in a way that the line or the best pass became evident to supporting players. You wish there was a way to highlight players like that more because I imagine it is very tough for selectors to watch hundreds of players in a day.”
The Cannibals 15s team is done for the summer, but the 7s team will compete this weekend at the Denver 7s and then Victoria (BC) 7s July 8-9.
Colorado and Mid-America sent JV teams, resulting in a three-game series. The Mid-America squad, composed of players from Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri, won the first game 21-15, and then Colorado answered with a 24-12 victory to end day one. The rubber match occurred on Sunday, and the home side shut out Mid-America 24-0 for the trophy.
New Jersey entered the Northeast RCT as heavy favorite and did not disappoint. The team produced three shutouts during the weekend, defeating Connecticut and Massachusetts by a combined 170-0 on Saturday, and Western New York 48-0 in Sunday’s final.
Well known entities like Kayla Canett, Delia Hellander and Gio Ferguson-Lewis were topics of conversation for All-American scouts, while No. 8 Brianna Whitfield, scrumhalf Jess Nagie and prop Lelyss Eligio also impressed in Albany, N.Y. From the team’s JV squad, which finished second to Pennsylvania, Susan Adegoke and freshman Julianna Aliprandi garnered attention.
After this weekend’s final two RCTs, a review of the junior varsity divisions, eligibility rules and event locations will need to be conducted. The varying strengths of state all-star programs, preferences for established youth events that aren’t RCTs, and inconsistent enforcement of grade restrictions have produced some frustrating outcomes.