USA Sevens go into camp
The players are training full-time in Chula Vista with the goal of being selected to the 12-player Team USA side for the Rio 2016 Olympic Summer Games, the first to feature Sevens.
The team qualified for the Games of the XXXI Olympiad at the 2015 NACRA Sevens Championships earlier this year, and will have a full World Rugby Sevens Series during which they can prepare against fellow Olympic-qualified nations.
Nate Augspurger has previously spent time at the OTC and on tour with the Eagles Sevens as a contracted athlete, and enters the full-time setup with coaches Mike Friday and Chris Brown having improved at Northeast Academy, part of USA Rugby's Olympic Development Academy.
Martin Iosefo entered the Sevens scene at the 2014 USA Rugby Club Sevens National Championship with Chicago Lions and garnered the interest of the Eagles coaching staff as a member of the USA Rugby Collegiate All-American Sevens before earning his first cap in 2014.
Throughout Friday's tenure as head coach of the Eagles, dozens of remote athletes have been called to High Performance Camps at the OTC. Several saw match time with the USA Falcons at the inaugural Halloween Rugby Sevens invitational tournament and went head-to-head with the USA Hawks, made up of Residency athletes.
Though there are only a few new additions to the men's program, Friday and the coaching staff pride the selection process for tours, having monthly Camps at the OTC, an extensive scouting network, and a responsive community assisting USA Rugby's Olympic gold efforts.
"The changes made in the Sevens pathway via the National Development Academies, along with the improvements in the college Sevens game, have added significantly to the competition for spots on the national team," USA Rugby Director of Performance Alex Magleby said.
USA Sevens training squad: Nate Augspurger, Perry Baker, Danny Barrett, Garrett Bender, Pat Blair, Nic Edwards, Will Holder, Madison Hughes, Martin Iosefo, Carlin Isles, Ben Leatigaga, Mataiyasi Leuta, Folau Niua, Mattie Tago, Mike Te'o, Zack Test, Brett Thompson, Stephen Tomasin, Maka Unufe.
