First Name	Last Name	Atlantis #	Club	Age yr.	Ht in.	Wt lbs	Pos'n 7s	Pos'n 15s	Birthplace	Residence
Nick	Aumann	1079	Cardinal Gibbons (FL)	15	67	135	4,7	15,9		Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Dan	Bark	1080	Media (PA)	15	75	185	1,6	6,7	Glenolden, PA	PA
Adam	Borai	1081	Hermits (NJ)	15	72	220	3		Galloway, NJ	Mays Landing, NJ
Christopher	Bortuzzo	1082	Union (NJ)	16	67	140	6,7		Milan, Italy	Franklin, NJ
Dan	Brown	1083	Phoenixville (PA)	15	72	205	2,3	12		West Chester, PA
Noah	Geltman	1084	Play Rugby USA Academy	15	66	130	7,6	13,11	NY, NY (Manhattan)
Ian	Kilcullen	1085	Gonzaga HS (DC)	15	69	170	6,5		Royal Oak, MI
Garrett	Lyons	1086	Georgetown	15	74	170	5,6	10,13	Washington, DC
Ashton	McGovern	1087	Doylestown (PA)	15	66	145	4	9	Montgomery, PA
Chase	Schor Haskin	1088	Weston (FL)	15	74	200	1	6,8,4	Pembroke Pines, PA
Mike	Weir	1089	Doylestown (PA)	15	67	115	5	10	Belfast, No. Ireland

Gm	Type	W/ L/ T	Atlantis	PF	Opponent	PA
1	Pool	W	Atlantis BU16	48	Mavericks (AB)	0
2	Pool	W	Atlantis BU16	19	Capilano Black (BC)	0
3	Pool	W	Atlantis BU16	31	Bayside Sharks (BC)	0
4	Pool	W	Atlantis BU16	24	Edmonton Gold	0
5	Cup SF	W	Atlantis BU16	28	Rugby Ontario	12
6	Cup F	L	Atlantis BU16	7	British Columbia	10
Tot		5-1		157		22

Pre-tourney.  The team, comprised of recommended players from NY, NJ, PA, MD and FL, arrived at different times on Wednesday with a lot of the team arriving late.  Half the team had little or no experience playing 7's.

Thursday was a very busy day as we had lots of preparation to do.  We met at 8 am in one of the players' rooms.  After introductions we talked a little 7's philosophy and introduced Lance Connolly and Marcus Maffei, fellow coaches who assisted me.  We then headed out to the field where we had 2 practices scheduled.

The first practice started with some terminology and implementing the swivel line and the pocket for around 30 minutes and then kicking off and kick off receiving. Then we split into forwards and backs.  At this point the coaches realized how coachable and talented these kids were. 

After the first practice we went to Subway for lunch and then watched a little of the tourney that was going on and started our afternoon practice a little early.  Right back to the swivel line, now with a little opposition. Then line outs, scrums as team, 22's.  We added the Nelly penalty play and worked a little on defense. (Emil's note: the "Nelly" was a play I stole from Old Blue and Dan Nelson ("Nelly"), one of their top players, who ran the play, and I introduced it to every team I ever coached ... glad to see it's still around after about 30 years:)




I was happy with how much we were able to accomplish in a short amount of time.   I saw how quickly the kids bonded and enjoyed each others company and knew our success would come from this cohesion. They were very coachable and after 2 practices got the whole basic 7's package.

We went back to the hotel and made our jersey presentation.  This was a first for most of the kids, and they were very grateful and excited receiving the new Atlantis kit!  We had a little down time then off to the Atlantis team dinner with all 10 teams participating in the LVI together.

The tournament.





We played 4 pool games.  Our first game against a club from Calgary was a blowout against a team we were too much for physically and skillfully.  Chase and Noah scored 2 tries each.

Try scoring vs. Mavericks: Chase Schor Haskin and Noah Geltman 2 tries each; Dan Bark, Adam Borai, Mike Weir, Garrett Lyons 1 try each.



It appeared our next match might be our hardest in the pool.  We played BC club Capilano which is one of the strongest in the province. And after a first half of playing as individuals we settled down and scored 3 nice team tries. Our forwards won a lot of ball and Ian scored a nice try and had a big work rate all game at hooker, a position he never played before.

Try scoring vs Capilano Black: Ian Kilcullen, Dan Bark, Ashton McGovern 1 try each.



Our third match was was against Bayside, another BC club side.  This was a more physical team, but could not match our pace and skill.  Dan Bark was a monster on kick offs, laying some big hits, and Chase took some nice ball in the air as well.  Nick controlled the game at scrumhalf  and scored a nice try on a dummy as well as Garrett scoring a couple nice tries at flyhalf. We played a nice pattern and scored on a few tries that went through many phases and we showed nice patience.

Try scoring vs. Bayside: Garrett Lyons 2 tries, Dan Brown, Nick Aumann and Chris Bortuzzo 1 try each.
 



The next day we played our 4th pool game.  It was clear we would be going into the semis but this game would determine the seeding.  Each game had been progressively harder.  We played a very good Edmonton team who played good defense.  They played to a close first half, but we continued to find our pattern and play a nice compliment of physical defense and working the ball to space on offense.  Adam had a strong run for a try. We finished pool play 4-0 without giving up a try. 

Try scoring vs. Edmonton: Adam Borai, Garrett Lyons, Chris Bortuzzo, 1 try each.



I got to watch the top 2 from the other pool play the day before and was very impressed.  Both teams were provincial sides that train and play together and it was evident in their play.  BC topped Ontario in a competitive game, but both sides looked good.  So going into our semi final against Ontario I was excited, but nervous.  I knew it would be our biggest challenge. 

Ontario had both size and speed.  We hadn't seen this combination up till this point, it had been either one or the other.  We continued to play very good defense but were challenged.  We continued to improve with each game, and although giving up a try in the first half we were up 14-5 at halftime.  Noah showed big work rate on offense and defense and scored a nice try after good ball movement and Dan Bark was constantly putting in nice tackles  Second half Chase ripped a ball on a poach and scored a try and Chris finished a nice run with a try.  Our subs in the second half brought a lot of energy to secure a great win to put us in the finals against British Columbia. 

Tries vs. Ontario: Chase Schor Haskin, Nick Aumann, Noah Geltman and Chris Bortuzzo 1 each.


Final vs. British Columbia.  BC was by far the best team we played.  They had some big strong forwards as well as a lot of speed out wide.  We would need to keep possession of the ball and not miss tackles.  British Columbia controlled the ball most of the first half and put our defense under a lot of pressure and even though we had some breakdowns we seemed to work hard to make our tackles.  They managed 1 try and at halftime the score was 5-0. 

The beginning of the second half was similar to the first: we were scrappy on defense, but started to get a little more ball.  BC scored again, but we put together some good ball movement with Dan Bark scoring right before the end of the game.  The final score was 10-7 British Columbia.  The boys never gave up: I was very proud of how well they picked up our defensive and offensive patterns and got better every game!  They were great kids on and off the field. The scoring was spread out very evenly thoughout the squad. Garrett was the top try scorer with 4; Chase, Dan Bark, Noah and Chris had 3 and every player on the squad scored at least 1 try.  Great team effort!

Try scoring: one try by Dan Bark.




The future is bright!  The skills and commitment demonstrated were much greater than I expected.  Most of these kids play other sports, and one of my goals was to give them an experience of playing in a professional atmosphere that will hopefully drive them to continue playing rugby at a higher level. They were a pleasure to work with on and off the field.   I am sure we will see more of these kids on future Atlantis and representative teams.

Emil's note: I'm still hoping to receive video, which will demonstrate just how well these boys really played!