The Northeast 7s Olympic Development Academy has announced its staff ahead of May tryouts. The New York City tryouts are Saturday May 25th with an 11:30am check in. The Boston tryouts are Sunday May 26th with 12pm check in.

“These coaches and administrators are determined to provide our athletes with the best possible learning experience, and to accelerate their development as players with the explicit goal of placing athletes on the USA Eagles squad within the very near future" Academy director Sean Horan said.

PERSONNEL:

1) DIRECTOR OF ACADEMY – SEAN HORAN has a long and storied career with Old Blue RFC, captaining them to a national championship in 2005. Since 2007, he has coached both the Old Blue to regular success, and transformed the NRU representative program, as well as being a long-term administrator in NRU 7’s. He has been instrumental in working with USA Rugby in bringing the Olympic Development Academy to the Northeast.

2) DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS – BRET COSTAIN played for Syracuse University and Village Lions in New York City, for whom he also served as President on three occasions. He is a well-regarded and experienced administrator having worked with local, regional and national officials in hosting NRU championships, National All Star 7’s and the Churchill Cup.

3) DIRECTOR OF COACHING –STEVE LEWIS is a highly experienced IRB Level 3 Coach. An accomplished player in his native Scotland with West of Scotland and Glasgow, he became Head Coach of Vail, Denver Highlanders, and Old Blue, the Western Mustangs All-stars, has worked regularly with West and Northeast Collegiate programs, and most recently instituted from scratch a sevens program in Nigeria which finished 3^rd in Africa in the current World Cup qualifying program.

NEW YORK:

ASSISTANT COACH – MARCUS RESPES is one of the most respected American sevens players of the last decade representing the Eagles on tour in 2006/7. A Philadelphia native, Marcus has played with success at both club and representative levels, notably the
Atlantis touring side.

Strength and Conditining Coach – DOMINIC WAREING was born in England and worked as a Strength and Conditioning coach with premiership side Northampton Saints. He is currently the Coaching Director for PlayRugby USA and has been a long-time stalwart for Old Blue 15’s and 7’s as well as captaining the NRU All star side.

NEW ENGLAND:
HEAD COACH – JOSH SMITH has been Head Coach with Bentley University and the driving force in the recent success of Middlesex Barbarians in both 15’s and 7’s, as well as Assistant coach with NRU
All-Star 7’s.

ASSISTANT COACH – JOHN MCGEACHY, a native of Scotland, came through the Penn State program to be an
All-American sevens player, before graduating to both the Senior Eagles Fifteens and Sevens programs. He is currently the Head Coach of the Brown University Mens Sevens team.

Strength and Conditioning Coach – OLIVER JULYAN played for Oxford University in England, where he also gained a Masters in Physiological Sciences and is now the Strength & Conditioning Coach for Brown University.

ASSISTANT COACH – KAYNE BUBB. From Nelson Bays, Kayne has had an extensive playing career in his native New Zealand and most recently with Mystic River where he is currently involved in coaching all levels of rugby.

ADMINISTRATOR - BRAD DUFRESNE, a Massachusetts native, is extensively involved in New England rugby as a coach, referee and administrator.

PERFORMANCE DATA MANAGER – Rob Chudzik has been involved in rugby as a player, manager and coach for over 25 years, most recently as coach with UConn 7’s program where he is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Sports Management.

The USA 7s Collegiate Rugby Championship confirmed today that the West Point rugby team will not be participating in the 2013 Collegiate Rugby Championship.

The reason for the withdrawal  at this late stage is due to an internal matter at West Point that has seen the team suspended from rugby activities for the foreseeable future.

CRC Tournament Director Donal Walsh expressed his and the tournament organizers' disappointment to hear the news.

"Of course we are very disappointed to learn that Army will not be able to compete in Philadelphia this year," said Walsh. "USA Sevens hopes the Army Rugby program stays its course, since it is one of the best in the nation, and returns better than ever to compete for future years of the competition. If there are any issues, we hope they are resolved and all goes smoothly."

With the CRC being less than two weeks away, the tournament has had to move quickly to find a replacement team, one that has players still in training and can make the trip to PPL Park on very short notice.

Walsh announced today that Villanova will be part of the 2013 CRC, replacing Army.

"For the past few months, our team has been training in the off-chance we may have been needed to replace any NSCRO teams that may not have made the trip," said Villanova Head Coach Larry McManus. "Having a CRC team drop out was a bit unexpected for us, but we're extremely confident in our ability to compete on the national stage against rugby's elite colleges and universities, and we welcome the opportunity."

"We are thrilled that Villanova is able to step in at such short notice," added Walsh. "The fact they are a nationally-recognized school, have tremendous presence and support in the Philadelphia market, and had their squad ready to go when we put out the feelers to some potential replacement teams last week, all made them the best solution for this scenario."

With the loss of Army and the addition of Villanova, the CRC pools now look as follows:

For more on the CRC go to www.usasevenscrc.com