Caravelli reveals his youthful blend
Mon, 17 May 2010 15:55
Following a week-long assembly at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, United States, American coach Al Caravelli has selected a youthful 12-man team for the final two International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens World Series events - in England and Scotland.
While Caravelli admits that there are several of the usual team members who won't make this last leg of the Sevens Series for various reasons, he is excited to see some of the younger players and how they will fare on the international stage.
"We will of course miss Nese [Malifa] on this trip, but the time away will give him time to heal and get much stronger in time for the fall," Caravelli said.
"Matt Hawkins has also continuously gotten better with each tournament, but both Matt and Leonard Peters have some personal commitments and will not be available either. This opens the door for four outstanding college athletes and play maker Tai Enosa, who will fill the role vacated by Nese. I look forward to seeing these young men really step up to the challenge in front of us."
The four stand-out collegians who were given the opportunity to travel with the squad to England and Scotland include Colin Hawley (California), Blaine Scully (California), Ryan Roundy (BYU) and Alex Ross (SDSU).
Last year, in London, Caravelli had to choose eight new players to the team. This time around, he has only four and two of those (Ross and Enosa) debuted last year. Caravelli is confident that with a year under their belt, Ross and Enosa are poised to really contribute to the team's goals next weekend.
"The goal for this season was to finish in the top 10 and have 21 or fewer players play in all eight tournaments," Caravelli said.
"If we did the latter, we believed that we could finish in the top eight. Our goal in London is several-fold. We want do to better than last year, while also building on what we have done this season so far."
But, with that said, Caravelli is also well aware that he does still have two athletes that have never been on the circuit at all.
Colin Hawley is one. Hawley had a tremendous collegiate season and played for the USA Sevens team last summer in the World Games. The other is stand out Under-20 player and All-American Ryan Roundy.
"He possesses everything a coach would want in a new player," Caravelli explained.
"He's hard working, a student of the game, fierce, competitive, powerful and has a lot of go forward. He will slide in nicely for Hawkins."
The USA is currently sitting with 32 World Series points and has reached its highest world ranking - ninth overall. Argentina is sitting at eighth and at just six points away, is within grasp for the ambitious U.S. squad.
With the trip to London imminent, the USA Sevens Team will use the week to train in England and kicks off the London Sevens tournament on May 22 with a very tough first test against Samoa in a repeat of the Cup final in Adelaide last month. Samoa is currently leading the standings by three points over New Zealand and is vying for its fourth-consecutive Series Cup. Next, the US will get a shot to take on Argentina in its second Pool A match and then will conclude its pool play with a match against Italy.
Following the London Sevens event, teams will travel to their final event of the season in Scotland on May 29-30. At the Edinburgh Sevens, the US will again face three tough opponents in its pool round as it plays Wales, hosts Scotland and Fiji in that order.
United States: Marco Barnard (Kutztown University), Mark Bokhoven (Denver Barbarians), Paul Emerick (Parma), Tai Enosa (Belmont Shore), Colin Hawley, Alex Ross (SDSU), Ryan Roundy (BYU), Tommy Saunders (KC Blues), Blaine Scully (California), Shalom Suniula (Pearl City), Kevin Swiryn (OPSB), Zach Test (Loughborough).
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