Waisale Serevi is a name well respected in the world of Sevens Rugby. Regarded as a warrior on the field, and a gentleman off the field, Serevi set the standard for sevens rugby in his native Fiji. His talent and ability saw him become one of the few Fijian players who played in both the Sevens and Fifteens games, and helped to guide Fiji to multiple accolades. His skills on the field are without peer, his powerful game play marking him as a force to be reckoned with. Yet he is also one of those rare people who always seems to be photographed with a smile on his face that comes from the satisfaction of a man who is doing exactly what he was born to do.

While he has retired from playing the game, Serevi remains deeply committed to the sport he loves. Building on this, Serevi established Serevi Rugby, and along with principal partners legendary English Captain Ben Gollings, and Argentinian Santiago Gomez Cora developed the Serevi Rugby vision to help educate, assist and support USA rugby players to better master and develop the game. This vision has proved to be hugely successful, with the name Serevi being synonymous with playing and coaching excellence. Serevi camps are run throughout the USA, with camps targeting every age group and skill level, and Serevi Rugby is also partnered with USA Rugby to assist the national team in their development. Last Word on Sports was able to get a few words with Serevi Rugby CEO Ross Young about Serevi Rugby, the Serevi experience and the work the ambassadors are doing.

One of the key points that Serevi brings to the table is the unique skills of Serevi, Gollings and Gomez Cora. I asked how these differing styles informed and guided the direction of Serevi Rugby ” Just like their time on the pitch, each one of our three key Rugby Ambassadors brings their own personal style and flair to how we are building our business and reaching thousands of young people with the game of rugby, not only in the US, but also around the world. The great thing about these rugby greats is that each of their talents and skills complement each other in our efforts to grow the game, just as they did on the field. The unbridled joy for which Waisale was known on the field is always apparent as he trains the young men and women in our programs. Day to day in our Serevi Rugby offices, he often starts the day by giving a heartfelt Fijian greeting of “bula” to every member of our team – usually partnered with a bear hug. On the training pitch his infectious smile and deep knowledge for the game engages everyone from a 7-year-old beginner to a 21-year-old collegiate or club player. From the moment Ben joined our team, he added a touch of class and an exceptional attention to detail, along with his unique insight into the technical aspects of the game. Ben is talented communicator and teacher – one of the best I’ve seen in the sport. He can impart the most basic skills to young players, as well as provide high school or collegiate players and coaches with a higher level of insight into technique and fitness development to take their game to the next level. Santi brings a passion for the game and ability to relate to kids of all backgrounds like no one else on our team. This passion is passed along to our other Serevi coaches and to the young players who work with Santi, serving as the foundation for our skill development. Also, as we look to add more international programming, as well as Spanish-language domestic activities, Santi’s South American background serves a unique, and beneficial role in the company’s future.”

Serevi’s partnership with USA Rugby seems to have been extremely beneficial, especially bringing the passion of the three ambassadors into the training regimen, something Young mentions “ Since we announced the USA Rugby Academy partnership in late 2013, the feedback from all sides has been overwhelmingly positive. As the relationship continues to evolve and more and more players progress through the pathway, we expect the impact of the program to be even greater. We’re all determined to see the partnership continue to thrive, ultimately improving the U.S. National Team’s ability to compete on the international stage, and helping each athlete reach their full potential – no matter what level of rugby they are striving for. From the athletes’ perspective, we’re hearing that they really enjoy working directly under the blend of Serevi and U.S. national team coaches in a training environment unlike experienced before. We get emails, tweets, and instragrams thanking us for the opportunity and showing how dedicated they are to continuing to improve. As we and they like to say on social media: “#BetterNEVERStops”. In the first few months of programs our coaches and the U.S. National Team coaches have already identified a handful of players at each High Performance Training Camp who have the potential to put them on the Eagles’ pathway. We believe this pattern of talent ID will only continue the further we get into the partnership. The next stage of the partnership will take place this summer when bring together the best and brightest from the High Performance camps this spring to our Residency Programs in San Diego (women) and Glendale, Colorado (men). ”

The fact the camps are made available to children as young as seven is a testament to the passion Serevi himself has for the game. Serevi discovered rugby at the age of ten, which enabled him to develop into the player he became. To provide the ability for American’s to discover and engage with rugby as kids can only benefit USA rugby in general, with the posibility of these young people following the path of the Serevi camps from child through to Elite level “That would be the ultimate goal” Young states “and we are certainly seeing young men and women progress through the pathway at a rapid clip. I’d say we need a few more years to really see an elementary-aged player progress all the way to elite levels, however with more and more crossover athletes coming to the sport at an earlier age, that timeline could speed up. With the pace at which kids in America are being introduced to rugby, and really enjoying the unique aspects of our sport, nothing would surprise us at this point.”

One thing that struck me, and that Young discussed, is the ongoing involvement all three ambassadors continue to have with the actual day to day running of the camps, and their continued passion for the betterment of rugby “Wais, Ben, and Santi love rugby and want to give back to the sport that has given them so much, so they are highly involved in our programs – from beginner summer camps all the way to elite residency programs. While they can’t be everywhere at once, all three are involved in the planning of our youth programs, teach our coaching courses, and are hands-on instructors during higher-level programming. The three also work closely with our other Serevi coaches (such as U.S. Men’s XVs Assistant Coach Justin Fitzpatrick) on planning our programming, so their expertise is passed along to the rest of our team. If we let them, Wais, Ben and Santi would be on the rugby pitch every day!”

The passion and Pride that the Serevi team have brought to the field of play has been reflected in a number of success stories which I asked Young to discuss ” In just a few short months of partnership with USA Rugby, we’ve already seen success on every level of the partnership. While in Las Vegas in January, we held a highly successful coaching course with more than 60 coaches from high school to club to collegiate level. Along with the collaborative, “hands-on” nature of the course that was popular with the coaches, the course was highlighted by a special appearance by Sir Gordon Tietjens, the legendary coach of the New Zealand All-Blacks Sevens (see here for more) . Several of our High Performance Training Camps have yielded great results as well. In Glendale on February 1st and 2nd, we fought through some challenging weather conditions but found several players who were subsequently invited to the Elite Residency program this summer and recommended a number of participants to other representative coaches. (See Dana Olsen’s here) In Atlanta, alongside the IRB Women’s Sevens tour stop, we held a 3-day camp that provided campers with not only on-field instruction, but access to watch top flight international rugby. That was a unique opportunity and very popular with the kids. Our recent Boston camp was a huge success, selling out with more than 120 young men and women from around the Northeastern U.S. coming for the weekend. Both national team Sevens head coaches (Hawkins – Men, Suggitt – Women) helped lead this camp, so they had an opportunity to see some of the best talent in that part of the country first hand. The popularity of that program tells us we’ll be back to New England soon with more programs for players and coaches across all levels. “

Finally I asked if there had been any changes in the capms, or structure since partnering with USA Rugby ” Not at this point, as consistency is key to our ongoing assessment of athletes, so ensuring all camps are using the same systems maintains a level playing field. We’ll continue running a series of seven High Performance Training Camps this spring, along with coaching courses and this summer we’ll host two Elite Residency Programs for the top young men and women. This spring and summer we’ll roll out our youth programs, designed to introduce and build a core set of skills to younger players or crossover athletes new to the sport. The final piece of the partnership is our year-round Training Centers, where players get ongoing instruction on fitness, skill-development, and game strategy. Our Training Center in Seattle has served as a model location for this piece, as six players who are training year round there have recently been called up by the USA Men’s 15s Eagles team. While globally much of the focus leading up to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games is on the Sevens game, all of our programs with USA Rugby are focused both on XVs and Sevens – building core skills that kids can use no matter what version of the game they play. I’m sure as partners Serevi and USA Rugby will continue to evaluate and modify our programs as needed to maximize the number of players who participate in the Academy programming and continue finding those with the talent to move toward the national team. ”

Pride, Passion, Power, and the desire to embody the motto of USA Rugby #WorkForIt. All of these elements are combined in Waisale Serevi, and in Serevi rugby. The benefits of the camps go far beyond the rugby field as well, providing a sense of family, and cohesion on the field and off. It’s fair to say the rugby world is all the better for having people like Serevi in it. More so with the work he, Gollings and Gomez Cora doing to make USA Rugby world class.

My thanks to Ross Young and Jamie Quick from Serevi rugby for providing me with this insight into Serevi and what Serevi Rugby does. For further information check out Serevi Rugby on Twitter here, and their website here.

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All Images Supplied by Serevi Rugby