Do you love sport?
Were you born in 1997, 1998 or 1999?
Do you want to represent your country at the Olympic Games?
Do you want to win GOLD?
It doesn’t matter if you are a sprinter, touch footy player or play any other sport, Rugby Sevens is looking for you!
The Australian Rugby Union is searching for the next generation of Rugby Sevens stars to join its centralised program at the world-class Sydney Academy of Sport facility.
National talent searches will take place across the country on Sunday, 26 October (Sunday, 2 November in Western Australia) with a view to finding stars that have the potential to shine at the Olympics Games for Australia in Rio in 2016 or Tokyo in 2020.
Since Rugby Sevens induction into the Olympic Games program, the sport has been on the crest of a wave:
- The national men’s team won a bronze medal in front of 50,000 fans at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July.
- The national women’s team finished second in the most recent IRB Sevens World Series.
- The current IRB Sevens Player of the Year is Australian Emilee Cherry, a player with a decorated background in touch football.
- The Australian Women’s Youth Olympic Rugby Sevens side last week won the sport’s first-ever gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.
Search for a Sevens Star ambassador and Qantas Wallabies fly-half Bernard Foley, a former Rugby Sevens player himself, said: “There are plenty of skills that are transferable between a variety of sports and Rugby Sevens.
“You might be quick, you might have good hand-eye co-ordination or you might simply have that competitive streak that makes you a stand-out. If you have a sporting background, the next thing you know you could be on the plane to Rio competing for Australia in an Olympic Games.”
National Women’s Sevens player Ellia Green, recruited by Women’s Head Coach Tim Walsh at a talent identification day in Melbourne in 2012, said: “I would encourage all 15-17 year olds who think they might have the talent to succeed in Rugby Sevens to attend.
“I was recruited thanks to my background in sprinting even though I had never played a game of Rugby in my life! But with plenty of hard work, I have had the time of my life travelling to places not usually associated with Rugby such as Sao Paulo, Atlanta, Dubai and China.”
Geraint John, National Director of Australian Rugby Sevens, said: “Hosting talent identification days such as Search for a Sevens Star are absolutely critical to ensure Australia remains at the forefront of Rugby Sevens globally.
“Australia is a country that has a proud history in the Olympic Games. There’s nothing more I would love than seeing Search for Sevens Star unearth a new generation of Rugby Sevens players. As Head Coach of one of the national teams, it would certainly make my job a lot tougher, but that’s a problem I want!”
So what is Rugby Sevens?
- 7 players on each team
- 7 minutes a half on a full-sized Rugby pitch
- Stats say that a try is scored every 80 seconds of game time!
- Rugby Sevens is to be played at the 2016 Olympic Games for the first time in the history of the sport
To register your interest in attending the ARU’s Search for a Sevens Star day click here
Search for a Sevens Star talent identification days will take place in:
NSW, 26 Oct, 10am-2.30pm, Sir Thomas Mitchell Reserve, Alexander Street, Dundas Valley, Sydney
QLD, 26 Oct, 10am-2pm, Ballymore Stadium, Clyde Road, Herston
ACT, 26 Oct, 2pm-4pm, Brumbies Oval Number 1, University of Canberra, Eastern University of Canberra Entrance
SA, 26 Oct, 10am-12pm, Old Collegians Rugby Club, Tregenza Oval, Linden Park
VIC, 26 Oct, 12pm-5pm, John Fawkner College, Jukes Road, Fawkner, Melbourne
WA, 2 Nov, 10am-2pm, McGillivray Oval, University of WA, off McGillivray Road in Mount Claremont
