Faul (background) giving pointers during San Diego WPL season / Photo: Paul Rudman / KLC fotos
The Super 7s in Brisbane, Australia, provided valuable experience to the USA Falcons – both players and staff. Alongside the young and up-and-coming players breaking into the international scene, Jarrod Faul stepped into his first head coach role for the USA’s developmental program.
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Faul has actually worked with many 7s and 15s Eagles in the club sphere through his coaching posts at San Diego and Life West. In fact, during the 2016-17 competitive season, Faul helped the Surfers to a Women’s Premier League national title and the Gladiatrix to a DI club national championship.
Faul is also familiar with USA 7s head coach and fellow New Zealander Richie Walker. Faul helped prep the squad for Dubai 7s and then returned for the January players camp at Chula Vista. That’s where he met the group of players who’d comprise the USA Falcons team for Super 7s.
“We had a week-long training camp prior to the Sydney [7s] departure so we were able to touch on our game plan. However, we didn’t practice as a team until we arrived in Brisbane and we had three trainings before the tournament kicked off,” Faul explained.
In addition to having Walker on staff, Faul also leaned on Emilie Bydwell, the Women’s High Performance General Manager. She, too, has coached the USA Falcons, including several on tour in Brisbane.
“The goal was to play to the same structure as the senior team but we also encouraged them to play outside of the script and to go with their instinct,” the coach added. “Overall, the team performed very well, their cohesiveness on the field was superb, and their chemistry off the field was equally as impressive.”
USA Falcons player Alena Olsen also made reference to the team’s cohesion, and that it was at its best on day one. There were some syncing issues on day two, which saw the team end 3-3 (when counting the exhibition game against Spain).
“Each game was certainly a challenge for us,” Faul reflected. “Most teams had a significant amount of experience, so it was a good test for us to measure ourselves against some quality international teams.
“Hope Rogers and Abby Gustaitis both did a fantastic job leading the team over the weekend,” the coach commended. “It was a good opportunity for them to grow as leaders and ultimately grow the leadership amongst the entire Eagles squad. All the players made significant contributions over the weekend and proved they belonged in the tournament. This is a great program and I’m glad I was able to be part of this experience.”
USA Rugby just announced that the USA Falcons will be competing at the Okinawa 7s (Feb. 24-25) again. The squad won the event last year. But there has been no information about whether the Falcons will return to the Las Vegas Invitational or Vancouver Festival akin to 2017, or whether there are additional fixtures for the Eagles to accommodate the three-month gap between HSBC Women’s Sevens Series stops.
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