USA Rugby and Serevi Rugby(R) Announce Long-Term Partnership to Grow the Game in America

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwired - Nov 25, 2013) - USA Rugby (usarugby.org) and Serevi Rugby^® (serevirugby.com) today announced a multi-year partnership aimed at growing the game of rugby in America. Serevi, a leading provider of on-field programming for players and coaches from beginner to the U.S. National Team, will launch a national network of high performance Training Camps under the umbrella of the USA Rugby Academy - powered by Serevi. These Training Camps will identify top players and provide a specific development pathway to the men's and women's U.S. National Teams. The partnership also creates a series of youth development programs which introduce and build a core set of skills applicable to both 15s and 7s rugby and across the youth, high school and collegiate player spectrum, as well as to coaches at all levels.

The first-of-a-kind partnership includes programming for male and female athletes at training camps, skill-specific sessions, residential camps, and year round training centers. During select talent identification programs, National Team coaches and their high performance staff, along with Serevi's coaches, will identify and develop America's top athletes utilizing input from a network of coaches throughout the country.

"USA Rugby and Serevi share the goals of growing the game in America and helping our national teams succeed on the international stage. This partnership helps us achieve both," said Nigel Melville, CEO of USA Rugby. "We're excited to see the immediate and long term impacts Serevi's programs have on the success of USA Rugby."

Rugby is now the fastest growing team sport in America. A growing number of major universities now offer rugby scholarships to boys and girls, and rugby will re-join the Olympics at the 2016 Rio games, opening the opportunity for many new athletes to play for their country.

"As rugby continues to grow in popularity in the U.S., we're professionalizing the youth development path to reflect USA Rugby's approach to the game," said Ross Young, CEO of Serevi Rugby. "We are putting the infrastructure in place so young boys and girls can be introduced to the sport at an early age, develop their skills, and be on track to participate in the top levels of rugby in America through our pathway."

U.S. National Team coaches will participate throughout the program to help identify young players who may be invited to participate in national team training camps.

Serevi's programming was designed and is led by Serevi's highly experienced staff including IRB Hall of Fame inductee and the "King of Sevens" Waisale Serevi, IRB World Sevens Series record points scorer, Ben Gollings, Irish veteran and USA Rugby Forwards Coach Justin Fitzpatrick, and National Championship Winning Coach Evan Haigh.

Through the partnership, Serevi Rugby also becomes an official sponsor of USA Rugby, supporting events and national team games throughout the country. More information on USA Rugby can be found at: usarugby.org and on Serevi Rugby at: serevirugby.com.

About USA Rugby
Founded in 1975, USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby in America, and a Full Sport Member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International Rugby Board (IRB). Currently headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, USA Rugby is charged with developing the game on all levels and has over 115,000 active members. USA Rugby oversees four national teams, multiple collegiate and high school All-American sides, and an emerging Olympic development pathway for elite athletes.

About Serevi Rugby®
Headquartered in Seattle, Serevi® is focused on growing the game of rugby in North America and beyond. The official Youth Programming and High Performance Partner of USA Rugby, Serevi offers on-field programming for coaches and players through the youth to elite spectrum. It also offers performance and casual rugby apparel to players and fans of the sport. For more information on Serevi Rugby, including upcoming player and coach training sessions visit www.serevirugby.com.