History:

Begun in 1986 as an Eastern US venture (short for “Atlantic Sevens,” Atlantis quickly became a nation-wide enterprise.  The Atlantis women first played in 1992 and in 2014 boys’ and girls’ teams were added. Atlantis now regularly fields sides ranging from U14 to senior adult and branched out to 15s rugby in 2024 with a high school academy.

 

Atlantis has multifaceted goals. One of our most important is to encourage and develop promising players and improve their level of play (and ours) by mixing them with more experienced and accomplished players.

 

When invited to top-level international tournaments, we assemble teams representing the very best the US has to offer. We have also included accomplished players from other countries. Besides helping us succeed on the field, they can have an important role in developing less-experienced players and helping them achieve success.

 

To further these competitive goals, Atlantis goes beyond just participating in tournaments and has implemented a program of camps and clinics to be able to develop players in a controlled environment under the tutelage of excellent and experienced coaches.

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Atlantis Rugby History: Worldwide Impact
 

The Atlantis men’s first tournament was the April 1986 Harvard Sevens, in which they were runners-up, and the women first played at the 1992 Benidorm Sevens (Spain), which they won. 

 

In 1990 we became the first American team to participate in a major New Zealand club sevens tournament – the Taupiri Sevens.

 

Since that time, well over 300 Atlantis squads have played in 200+ tournament across the world. In February 2015 - at the Las Vegas Invitational (LVI) – Atlantis was thrilled to have 10 squads at a single event. Yet, we have grown to the point where we perennially field 8-10 sides and Tropical 7s in Tampa every spring and the North American Invitation in Utah every summer.

 

We have played in (chronologically by first appearance): USA, England, Scotland, Spain, New Zealand, Ireland, No. Ireland, Uruguay, Bulgaria, UAE (Dubai), Trinidad & Tobago, Fiji, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Argentina, Canada, Netherlands, Portugal, Venezuela, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Brazil, Singapore, Thailand, Paraguay, Malaysia, Italy, French Polynesia, Mexico, Laos, Barbados, and Grenada

 

2014 saw the first-ever boys’ and girls’ U-19 and high school teams; in 2015 we welcomed both boys’ and girls’ U-18s and U-16s, and in 2024 we started playing 15s as well at the high school academy level.

 

Atlantis wins approximately 70% of our matches against the best competition that the world has to offer and we have won tournament championships across the globe and at all age groupings.

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AMBASSADOR:

Atlantis tries to be a good ambassador of our program wherever it competes and also of the US and of USA Rugby wherever it travels abroad.  We look forward on every foreign tour to meet fellow rugby people from another part of the world and to benefit from exposure to the culture of our hosts and the other participants.

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OUR ALUMNI:

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Through July 31, 2024 1994 players from throughout the US and beyond – have represented Atlantis. We are particularly proud of the many senior US national team players that have played for us, which is close to 300 in total, with more than half of them having represented Atlantis prior to the US.

 

Atlantis players have played for 18 national teams other than the US:

 

Argentina, Austria, Barbados, British Lions, Canada, England, Fiji, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, USSR, Uruguay, and Yugoslavia

 

With the beginning of our age grade (U23, U19, U18, U16 and U14) programs we now regularly place Atlanteans on national age-group and All-American teams.

 

Based on birthplaces and/or residences, our alumni/ae represent 49 US states (all but Wyoming), plus DC, Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa.  

 

Likewise (birth, residence or citizenship) they represent 48 foreign countries:

 

Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, England, Fiji, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Jamaica, Japan, Laos, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, No. Ireland, Paraguay, Philippines, Russia, [W.] Samoa, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, ​USSR, UAE [Dubai], Uruguay, Wales, Yugoslavia, and Zimbabwe.

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Atlantis is proud of its alumni/ae that have become coaches; dozens have coached national teams or national age grade or school teams.

 

In the first year of Premier Rugby Sevens – the professional domestic 7 on 7 competition in the United States – in 2021 Atlantis players made up approximately 20% of the rosters.

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RECENT EVENTS:

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So far in 2024 Atlantis has sent 9 sides to Tropical 7s, taken 3rd at the Youth Rugby National Championship, placed 2nd at the Buckeye Invitational in our first ever 15s tournament, won the women’s division at Cape Fear, and sent 11 sides to the North American Invitational. There is so much more to come from a team standpoint just in this year alone!​

 

On an individual level we were thrilled to have 4 Olympians this year! For the USA Ariana Ramsey and Naima Fuala’au competed for the women and men respectively while Emilie Bydwell coached the women, and on Team Great Britain we were represented by Ellie Kildunne.

 

Rugby was brought back into the Olympics in 2016 and Atlantis has been represented every year. In a truly monumental accomplishment the women’s Olympic team earned the bronze medal for the first Olympic 7s medals in USA History and we could not be more proud of Ariana and Emilie for this accomplishment!

 

The U18 Women’s National team did a Wales Festival and Tour this year and the team included Stacy Mancuso as coach with Atlantis players Becca Balladeres, Emerson, Callegari, Drew Dauser, Nolah Flynn, Annie Henrich, and Sana’a Lunon. They are bolstered by U18 East Camp invitees Mackenzie Marks and Annie Huettel as well as West Camp invitees Kiona Hill and Lindsey Mulligan.

 

The U20 Men and Women also competed recently and the men’s side features Jordan Vassel, Logan Ballinger, and Sederik Saxon while the women’s side includes Elizabeth Cook, Lennox London, Taylor Sadek, Alissa Eisenhart, and Skylar Jordan.

 

There was also a USA Falcons tour to Brazil recently that included Emily Henrich, Nikki Kenyon, Matalasi Morrissette, Tiahna Padilla, and Sophie Pyrz while the USA Eagles spring player pool included Cassidy Bargell, Gabby Cantorna, Tess Feury, Emily Henrich, Rachel Johnson, Nikki Kenyon, Neariah Weathers, and Kate Zackary.

 

The North American Lions travelled to Heidelberg 7s in Germany with U18 Girls and U16 Boys sides that featured a total of 11 Atlantis players. The girls side included Hailey Russer, Nakato Myers, Aubrey Phillips, Kenani Watts, and Lauren Huang as well as Coach Talia Carrasquillo. The boys side featured Jackson Reilly, Alex Drury, Sebastian Meyers, Sacha Meunier, Trevor Vach, and Kole Frogley.

 

Last but not least, Ellie Kildunne (England) was named Player of the Year in the Women’s Six Nations, Rachel Johnson was named Player of the Year for the Exeter Chiefs, KB Slaughter was inducted into the inaugural Collegiate Rugby Championship Hall of Fame class, and Nancy Fitz was inducted into the US Rugby Hall of Fame.

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CAMPS & CLINICS:

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In 2014 Atlantis Rugby Corporation began running camps and clinics for various age groups from middle school to adults, for boys and girls, men and women. The goal of these activities is to prepare to learn to play skilled, winning rugby in a safe, controlled environment.  Through our camps, clinics and training we can help support individuals who might otherwise not be able to learn and participate in the in the game.

 

In 2024 these offerings have been expanded to focus not just on 7s but to also incorporate 15s training events as well.

 

OUR TEACHERS:

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Atlantis' founder and "Emperor" Emil Signes, a 2015 inductee into the US Rugby Hall of Fame, was US National Men's Sevens Coach from 1987-90. During this time the US men had a winning record and won the Hong Kong Plate in 1988. He was the first-ever US National Women's Sevens Coach and served from 1996-2005; the US women were 57-19-4 (4-time runners-up to New Zealand in Hong Kong) during his tenure.

 

Emil spent decades personally coaching the majority of the Atlantis teams, and with the expansion of our program into all of the age grade levels he has been complemented by more than 100 extremely well qualified coaches. The list of Atlantis coaches through the years includes – among many others – dozens of current or former national team, national age grade and/or Olympic Development coaches.

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ATLANTIS FAMILY:

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Metaphorically, we are a large global extended family. Also, literally, Atlantis has comprised many actual family groups: we have 3 groups of 3 siblings that have represented Atlantis as well as 15 sibling pairs. There are also 8 parent/child pairs that have graced the rugby field for Atlantis. 

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Thanks for reading if you made it this far, Emil Signes