USA hyped-up for Adelaide
Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:48
Following their week-long training camp at the United States Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, coach Al Caravelli has selected the team to represent the USA at the next two IRB Sevens World Series events in Adelaide, Australia and Hong Kong.
Caravelli brought in 19 players initially and after a week of training and fitness testing, has selected the US team that will travel to Australia on Sunday.
"I’m extremely pleased that we have nine of the players who were in Las Vegas on this tour, and that Mark Bokhoven joins the squad back from injury," Caravelli said.
"That gives us 10 players who have played in the series thus far this season. That is huge for us. That experience is invaluable and doesn’t come our way too often."
In the last two series stops, the US secured the Shield in Wellington and the Bowl in Las Vegas, and are looking to improve on those results for the next two tournaments.
"The preparation has been outstanding this week in all aspects of the game. The players are chomping at the bit to play England next Friday," Caravelli added.
New to the team will be Tommy Saunders, who proved to be the fittest player at camp.
"We have never had a football player without rugby experience crush the beep test the way he did," Caravelli said. "He is still learning the game, but he makes up for his lack of experience with his athleticism."
The other new player to the squad is Zach Pangelinan, who played in four IRB Sevens tournaments last season, but until now had yet to make this season’s tour squad. Caravelli credits his versatility as a playmaker and solid defender in the midfield for his selection.
"He has also come back with renewed energy and seriousness. You can tell he has matured and that he wants to represent the USA more than ever."
"I am thrilled with the level of focus every athlete brought to every field training, weight room and video sessions," he added.
"They were switched on 100 per cent every aspect of the way. It was a pleasure to see their professional attitude and how each of them continued to push each other. This has to be our best camp in those regards. The players really took to heart the phrase of ‘raising the bar!’ They did it every day and continue to really push each other to higher levels."
The team will train in Adelaide for just two days prior to the IRB Sevens World Series in Australia, with practice matches against South Africa and France scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Following the Australian event, the team will travel to Hong Kong for the sixth stop on the IRB Sevens series.
The team will be led once again by captain Kevin Swiryn and vice captain Matt Hawkins.
USA Sevens: Marco Barnard, Mark Bokhoven, Nick Edwards, Paul Emerick, Matt Hawkins, Valenese Malifa, Zach Pangelinan, Leonard Peters, Tommy Saunders, Shalom Suniula, Kevin Swiryn (captain), Zach Test.
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