USA Sevens coach Al Caravelli has joined Gordon Tietjens, Paul Treu, Ollie Phillips and Nigel Starmer-Smith in contributing regular columns on the Sevens game. In his first column, Caravelli looks back on the game's transformation in the States, and dreams of what Olympic success might mean for the sport..
When I began coaching the USA National Sevens team in 2006 we wanted to elevate the programme into a world-class organisation and in order to do that we needed to find and develop the best athletes and make them into the best possible rugby players. To do that, we needed selection camps.
One of the toughest tasks of coaching a national team in America is assembling athletes for an adequate amount of time before events. The sheer size of the country, as well as the immense population, can make that difficult logistically.
In the summer of 2006 we decided to hold our first camp for Sevens to identify potential national team players for the 2006/07 IRB Sevens World Series and we brought them to West Point, New York.
West Point has a long and proud history going back to America's War of Independence and it is now the site of the United States Military Academy. Just as numerous great American leaders had started their careers there, our athletes were starting theirs as well.
Famous generals like Robert E. Lee, George Patton and Douglas MacArthur were graduates of West Point, as well as Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Ulysses S. Grant. It is a place steeped in tradition and history where our athletes felt proud to call home for a week.
Being at the Academy evokes a certain sense of awe, pride and patriotism and it is inextricably linked to our nation's history. It is the perfect place to prepare athletes to represent their country - positioned scenically on the Hudson River in New York, the Academy also has one of the premier rugby-specific facilities in the nation. The $12 million facility has an athletic track, weight rooms, state of the art changing rooms, as well as two full length rugby pitches, one sport turf and the other natural grass.
A home for the winter
Although West Point was an excellent facility, the North East winter rendered the facility unusable from November through to March due to snow and, unfortunately, that is the core part of the World Series, so it quickly became apparent that we would need to find another site to meet the same standards and criteria.
The Olympic Training Centre in Chula Vista, California - just south of San Diego - was a perfect fit. Not only does it house state of the art facilities, but the climate is suitable for year-round use. Also, training in a place that produces world champions and Olympians is certainly something special that is hard to replicate elsewhere.
So, starting in October 2006 we held our first training camp at the Olympic Training Centre with 24 athletes competing for 12 spots. And the impact on our guys was immense. All of a sudden they realised that they were in the presence of Olympians and numerous world champions within their respective disciplines.
They were sharing dining rooms, weight rooms and tracks with current Olympians and gold medallists and that is when it clicked that they were in a unique world-class facility alongside some of the best athletes in the world, an amazing reality and insight into an Olympian's world.
Our rugby players have rubbed shoulders with Olympians Allyson Felix, Tyson Gay, and Michael Phelps and, because the OTC is such an excellent facility, we continue to use it today as a site for our selection camps.
Cross-over athletes
In 2007 rugby, and specifically Sevens, was selected to the Pan-American Games in Guadalajara in 2011. This is a massive step towards American rugby becoming the world-class organisation that we strive for. While we have made huge strides and improvements since 2006, it is our belief that we can go even further and we still have more to do within the world of Sevens.
The Pan-Am Games selection is not only important for American rugby but the world game as a whole. As the Pan-Am Games is widely seen as the North and South American precursor to the Summer Olympiad, it is feasible that Sevens will eventually become an Olympic sport.
From an early age, Americans believe that the greatest success an athlete can achieve is becoming an Olympian and competing in the Olympics. NBA star Kobe Bryant even said that winning a gold medal in basketball was the greatest accomplishment of his athletic career. If Rugby Sevens gets into the Olympics, more athletes will pick it up and we will see more "cross-over" athletes.
VIDEO: WATCH RUGBY SEVENS' NEW 'REACHING OUT' FILM >>
The term "crossover" is being applied to athletes whose background lies within another sport but who eventually take up rugby. If rugby is in the Olympics, I believe we will see more athletes taking up rugby who previously played the "Big Four" American sports - American Football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey - sports traditionally played in North America with a long history and a massive following.
Also, more athletes from other disciplines, such as soccer and track & field, might turn to rugby as well. What many people fail to realise is that the United States has a massive quantity of untapped athletes who failed to make the next level or go professional in their original disciplines. If rugby becomes an Olympic sport, one of our key goals will be to convert these athletes into rugby players.
There is no other opportunity in the world to see the world's best players in the world's biggest sporting event in a tournament where any team has a chance to win.
The true beauty of modern Sevens is that there isn't a large gap between the top teams and some of the supposed 'lesser' nations. The World Series continues to demonstrate that upsets are always possible and a Cinderella team medalling in the Olympics is indeed a possibility.
We have a mini-sneak preview coming up too, at the World Games in Chinese Taipei - another opportunity to compete with other world class athletes for a medal, and before the Pan-Am Games in 2011.
For the spectators too, there will be the chance to see the wonderful sport that we play - the speed, endurance and athleticism that these phenomenal athletes possess in Sevens. It also gives me a jump on selecting athletes that we would not see until November, playing against World Series champions South Africa as well as last year's European champions Portugal. It's a win-win.
If we get into the Olympics, though, I believe the sky is the limit, our sport would explode on an unforeseen global scale. Nations not traditionally associated with rugby will experience a profound growth and hopefully will compete with the traditional superpowers, creating an even more entertaining product and making Sevens a truly global game.
