The Salt Lake City Gladiators flew out to California for the National LA 7s Open men's tournament and couldn't have had a better time.
On August 26th, 2022- Gladiator Strong took to the sky and flew out to California to participate in the open BASH prior to the International 7's games in Carson. It was an opportunity to be grateful for that allowed the team to bond, expand and continue to do the incredible things that Gladiators have set out to do.
The energy even at home watching the games through the handful of lives that were provided was on fire! The enthusiasm behind the team to have Gladiators representing is appreciated and really what we are founded on. Family, Growth, Leadership and Community.
The LA 7s End of Summer Bash was set up with 2 pools. Five in each pool with a total of 10 men's clubs that were participating in this event. Gladiators came ready to go.
The first game was set against Silicon Valley. After some incredible moves and teamwork, the Gladiators took the win at 17 to 10. It was a great way to start off.
So much anticipation for Game 2. As the game when back and forth, with a close tie, the Gladiators pulled out a win. 19 Gladiators to 12 Eagle Rock 2.
Hopes were high and with a full head of steam, the boys took the 3rd game at 30 to 5 to the Carolina GU Selects. The men were in good spirits as they ended day 1 and went to cheer on International teams for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
After celebrating DAY 1 and resting up, the Gladiators move onto day 2 of the LA 7s End of Summer Bash. Moods are looking good as the guys take the field and start warming up for the day.
Game 4 was a challenging start to the day against the Raptors but the gentlemen still ended up with the close win of 21 to 14. It was great to have that and see how well the guys were coming together. Captain Jason Toeava stated:
We knew it from the beginning that our pool games were going to be hard but I’m so blessed that I get to play alongside with my brothers that I can count on in the game.
Gladiators did well and really dominated the field during the pool games. With that win, it advanced the boys into the semi finals. Gladiators came ready!- After a heated game, the Gladiators blew it out of the water with a score of 25 to 10.
We reached out to Central Coast Beach Dogs to see how they felt and get a recap on things. They mentioned that it was like playing any Polynesian squad; hard nosed, intense tackling and unpredictable.
"We couldn't get it right on our end" they reported. They had lost their play maker and hooker earlier in the day so they didn't quite have the same team but it was a good experience.
For the finals, Gladiators went up against Rhino Rugby Academy's men division. It was a tough match with some interesting calls and wild plays that sneaked through causing a close loss to Rhinos 17-12. Jason continued to recognize the situation that he knew they were up against for the finals:
In the final, it wasn’t the outcome that we wanted it but I can tell you this! My brothers put on a fight in the final against the Rhinos. As we all know, Rhino is one of the top teams in the state so we did what we do but came short in the 2nd half..
All in all the Gladiators looked great as they competed on a National level.
With 7s games anything can happen in a second and Gladiators hoped to use that in their advantage.
One of our strategies that we came up with is to limit the mistakes in the game because we don’t get a 2nd chance to fix it and that was the biggest thing [to recognize] in order for us to win all our pool games.and we did it.... Jason Toeava
President Viliamu Jahmu Solovi said, "The LA sevens is a once in life time experience and our trip was fun." A lot was learned from this trip and teammates grew stronger and provided a chance to bond with the younger boys mentioned Jason after going over the recap.
It’s been fun learning and play alongside with USO Joe Mano. We appreciate that he’s here to help with our team
Continued gratitude goes out to those that came out to support the club starting with leadership;
Big thanks to our President, Moresby and our Vice President for taking the time off to help us boys get ready for the LA tournament.
Thanks to all our family’s and friends that came out and support. We hope to continue to provide opportunities for fans and players. With the good experience that the team had, there are hopes, goals and plans to focus on more things like this. As Pres mentioned in recapping the event,
there are a lot of things that goes on behind scenes to make big things like this happen and if we prepare ourselves to keep doing great trips like this we will want to start sooner.
With that, be sure to see Gladiators doing more, staying involved and continuing to build.
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