January 6, 2016
USA Falcons Travel To Mar del Plata & Viña del Mar Sevens
Doug Coil
Modified from USA Rugby Chad Wise article Jan. 6, 2016
The USA Falcons development, comprised of Men’s Eagles Sevens pool players, will play in international sevens tournaments in Mar del Plata, Argentina Jan. 9-10 and Viña del Mar, Chile Jan. 16-17.
Andrew Locke, who is part of the U.S. Army’s World-Class Athlete Program, will coach the team on this South American tour. At the end of August, he coached both the Armed Forces Men’s and Women’s Rugby teams at the Elite City Sevens.
The Falcons will include two capped Eagles, Mike Te’o and Aladdin Schirmer. Alex Faison-Donahoe, Seth Halliman, Tua Laei, Peter Malcolm, ConRoy Smith, and Joey Sok represented the Falcons at the inaugural Halloween Rugby 7s invitational tournament where they lost to a USA Hawks team predominantly featuring capped Eagles in the tournament’s third-place match, by a try.
Jope Motokana has continued to impress Mike Friday and Assistant Coach Chris Brown. He will miss this weekend’s tournament in Argentina before joining the team in Chile.
Kingsley McGowan has been playing rugby for Trinity College in Dublin after winning two D1A Rugby National Championships at Saint Mary’s College. Faison-Donahoe, Malcolm, and Anthony Welmers play D1A rugby at Kutztown University, Wheeling Jesuit University, and Davenport University, respectively.
The Falcons are in Seven de Mar del Plata’s Pool B with Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, with Canada, Paraguay, South Africa, and Uruguay in Pool A. In Argentina, the Falcons will play Argentina, Canada, and South Africa in pool play the following weekend. Following the tournament in Chile, the team will return to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., as the Eagles finish their Camp ahead of the HSBC Wellington Sevens and HSBC Sydney Sevens Series stops.
USA Falcons | 2016 South America Tour
Aaron Davis – Columbus Rugby Club / Tiger Rugby
Alex Faison-Donahoe – Kutztown University
Seth Halliman – Central Washington University / Men’s Eagles Sevens
Tua Laei – Brigham Young University / Rugby Utah
Peter Malcolm – Wheeling Jesuit University
Kingsley McGowan – Trinity College
Jope Motokana – Seattle Saracens / ATAVUS Academy
Aladdin Schirmer – Central Washington University
ConRoy Smith – Northern Virginia Rugby Club
Joey Sok – Columbus Rugby Club / Men’s Eagles Sevens
Mike Te’o – Men’s Eagles Sevens
Anthony Welmers – Davenport University
USA Falcons | Coaching Staff
Andrew Locke – Coach
Brian Finn – Physiotherapist
Sean Lindersmith – Manager
USA Falcons | Seven de Mar del Plata
v. Chile – Saturday, Jan. 9 – 12:50 p.m. ET
v. Brazil – Saturday, Jan. 9 – 4:30 p.m. ET
v. Argentina – Saturday, Jan. 9 – 6:35 p.m. ET
USA Falcons | Seven de Viña del Mar
v. Argentina – Saturday, Jan. 16 – 12:20 p.m. ET
v. South Africa – Saturday, Jan. 16 – 2:40 p.m. ET
v. Canada – Saturday, Jan. 16 – 5:50 p.m. ET
