USA Rugby Announces City-Based Sevens Tournament Team Rosters
BOULDER, Colo. – Following tryouts in early July and a two-week development program, the four USA Rugby City-Based Sevens teams have named their rosters for the inaugural Sevens Tournament that will be held in Philadelphia, Pa., on July 26.
Women’s sevens teams from Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., will participate in the City-Based Tournament and the excitement is already growing among the women’s rugby communities.
“Players have responded enthusiastically to this new opportunity,” said USA Women’s Sevens Head Coach Sue Parker. “We are seeing some very athletic new players, which achieves our goal of player identification through this League. The League could not exist without a truly great group of coaches in each city who are following the National Team skill and game understanding protocol.”
The City-Based League was established to support the development of women’s sevens in the USA. Set up as a pilot this year, the goal is to grow the league nationally. The program is designed to help new players learn the basics of sevens rugby, and to introduce experienced players to the approach the National Team will take. It has also been a chance to involve new coaches in the sevens game.
“It has been a very positive experience,” said Mark Bowker, the coach of the New York team. “The players have responded very well and with a lot of enthusiasm. We have seen improvement in ball-handling and in game awareness even over this short period of time.”
Peter Baggetta, coach of the Washington, DC team added, “One of the interesting parts of the program has been working to a consistent coaching protocol. Every team has been working to achieve the same outcomes. Coaches were provided with a manual that they used to build their practices. We still have the freedom to do come up with our own activities, but within the outcomes stated in the overall plan.”
The goals of the practices have been to work on basic skills, and then introduce some attacking and defensive concepts within the context of the game. The tournament this weekend will be a chance for the coaches to assess this approach.
“The tournament provides players an opportunity to use what they have learned,” said Parker. “We will be looking at whether players are implementing lessons learned in practice, and we will assess whether the protocols improved their rugby development. The teams will be split by experience, and players will compete at their appropriate level.”
The tournament will be held at Friendship Field in Phoenixville, just outside Philadelphia, Pa. Kick-off of the first game will be at 11 a.m., and directions can be found at www.citybased7s.com.
The City-Based Team’s include:
New York
Alyssa Baccarella, Laura Bilazarian, Rebecca Brafman, Zania Campos, Melissa DiFabio, Jenna Flateman, Erika Granger, Elizabeth Inkellis, Elizabeth Kelly, Phaidra Knight, Rosalie MacGowan, Vanesha McGee, Daniela Mogro, Maria Muscara, Shantel Nelson, Jenny Petronis, Alison Price, Kelly Rafferty, Sophia Shapiro, Jasmine Wid.
Staff: Mark Bowker, Jonathan Gibbard, Kevin Tracey
Philadelphia
Angie Brambley, Steph Burkhardt, Collette D’Angelo, Kate Hallinan, Melissa Hutchinson, Christina Jacovides, Kim Magrini, Lesha Meyer, Danielle Monica, Adrianne Ortiz, Deven Owsiany, Emily Record, Ines Rodriguez, Jen Sinkler, Moira Somerdyk, Rashida Stamps, Leigh Thierfielder
Staff: Peter Steinberg, Chris Ryan, Devin Keller, Sheena Woodard
Boston
Jaime Albarelli, Sherry Cheuk, Rose Deng, Katie Dowty, Lisa Harvey, Jamie Howard, Jessica Hurley, Olesia Kruglov, Kathleen Mathews, Rachel Milligan, Lisa Natalicchio, Kelly Seary, Kaley Smith, Ashley Snyder.
Staff: Richard Ashfield, Bryan Hamlin, Ashley Snyder
Washington, DC
Jeanna Beard, Ida Bernstein, Aurora Bushner, Caitlyn Chione, Kate Daley, Liz Dilley, Gabrielle Guillen, Sara Haugli, CJ Hildreth, Liz Hirschhorn, Lauren Hoeck, Meredith McAlister, Tracy Pecher, Danielle Reeder, Julia Swavola, Jasmine Utsey, Jessica Weiss, Eli White.
Staff: Peter Baggetta, Dana Creager, Kellie Cavalier