Play Rugby USA’s CODP team is among the elite programs that will vie for glory at the New York Sevens Tournament this Saturday. 

The event is streaming live on FloRugby and will feature elite-level teams in six brackets, plus several more social and club brackets. 

Watch the 2017 New York Sevens Tournament LIVE on FloRugby

CODP stands for Community Olympic Development Program, and the Play Rugby CODP has been working with talented kids from the New York City area, playing in major tournaments around the country.

See these players in action at the Liberty Challenge below:

“We’ve got players from Play Rugby, Greenwich, Xavier all playing in one team, and they learn not only to compete against each other but play with each other," Play Rugby USA CODP head coach Ryszard Chadwick said. “Doing that allows us to bond and then challenge these players even more. This is the first  tournament of the season and it allows us to see where players are for the year. We get to play against phenomenal Canadian programs and those guys are Under 19s, so some of them are a year ahead of our players. It’s really good.”

These players have high aspirations. They want to play rugby at elite colleges and play for the national team. It's what fuels them.

This past weekend, a Play Rugby team faced off against a Connecticut team in a de facto trial matchup during the Liberty Challenge weekend at Fairfield University. 

“A lot of the players we saw at Fairfield, on both sides of the ball, will be with us at the New York Sevens,” Chadwick said.

While Connecticut showed some talent and exciting play, the Play Rugby kids, who have been playing together more of the fall, were a level above. Their play on offense and defense, and especially in the transition game, went through snappy halfback Jon Rodriguez, while Elijah Billips and Nathan Salter were the speed and power elements.

“We just do a lot of running and doing strength and conditioning by ourselves to be able to compete against these great teams,” Rodriguez said. 

But the teamwork was there, too.

“We also have good relationships with our teammates so they know, 'Hey, I’ve got you on the field or off the field. If you make that line break, I’m right there: left, right, or I’ve got your ruck,’” Rodriguez said. “It’s all about relationships.”

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