{"id":799870,"date":"2019-09-27T16:26:19","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T22:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=372170"},"modified":"2019-09-27T16:26:19","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T22:26:19","slug":"summit-rugby-continues-to-dream-big-as-u-s-olympic-team-comes-to-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/summit-rugby-continues-to-dream-big-as-u-s-olympic-team-comes-to-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Summit Rugby continues to dream big as U.S. Olympic team comes to town"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Team USA’s U-18 team is seen at a tournament this past summer, including Summit High players PK Vincze (top left) and Nicole Kimball (bottom row, third from left).<\/strong>
Courtesy Courtlandt Pennell<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

BRECKENRIDGE \u2014 It\u2019s one thing to dream. It\u2019s another to put in the work and time necessary to live the dream.<\/p>\n

Summit Rugby\u2019s 22-plus-year journey from genesis to glory speaks to that reality of athletics \u2014 and life \u2014 as well as any other sports story in the county. They have 11 consecutive state championships to prove it.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the Summit Rugby program will have a day of living the dream. That\u2019s because the U.S. Women\u2019s National Rugby Team will host a clinic with Tigers high school players at the Breckenridge Recreation Center\u2019s turf field from 2-4 p.m.<\/p>\n

Speaking Friday, Team USA head coach Chris Brown said this weekend\u2019s convergence of the national team and Summit High in Breckenridge is unprecedented. Though it\u2019s never happened before, Brown said it speaks to Summit county\u2019s one-of-a-kind rugby family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know they are really keen and a very supportive rugby community,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThey love this game, it\u2019s a community game, and the values of rugby \u2014 inclusiveness, creating sisterhood and giving children and people an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s highest-level team going out of their way to come connect with a high school sports program \u2014 just how does that happen? How does a high school team attract Olympians to essentially come over and play with them?<\/p>\n

There is an element of preparation and planning to it, sure. But it all comes back to Summit head coach Karl Barth. The program\u2019s founder, Barth is not only one of the greatest high school rugby coaches in the country\u2019s history. He also has extensive experience coaching U.S. boys and girls junior national teams for many years, including coaching Team USA general manager Emily Bydwell.<\/p>\n

Per Barth\u2019s usual style, he deflected the credit to his Summit athletes, several of whom have suited up for the Stars & Stripes over the years including one current member of the Team USA Senior National Team pool, Harvard sophomore Cassidy Bargell.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a bunch of kids, not unlike today, committed to learning,\u201d Barth said. \u201cThey\u2019ve always been a fun group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barth, in many ways, is the direct connection between Team USA and Summit. Of the elite women competing to represent the U.S. at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Barth said he\u2019s coached about half of them.<\/p>\n

Along with Barth, elements surrounding the Summit Rugby club contributed to making this dream weekend a reality. Club president Courtlandt Pennell said this weekend also came to be thanks to the club\u2019 approach of not being hesitant to ask about potential possibilities.<\/p>\n

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Summit High School head coach Karl Barth (far right) poses for a photo with Summit Tigers alums (left to right) Becca Jane Rosko, Cassidy Bargell and Marin Pennell at the NCAA National Championship game between Harvard and Dartmouth last November.<\/strong>
Courtesy Courtlandt Pennell<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

That started two years ago at a CanAm Rugby Tournament in New York\u2019s Adirondack State Park. At the event, 2019 Summit High rugby grad CeCe Pennell and current seniors PK Vincze and Nicole Kimball represented the U.S.\u2019s U-18 national team. While spectating, Courtlandt Pennell, CeCe\u2019s father, told Bydwell if the national team ever wanted to come to Summit County, the Tigers would welcome them.<\/p>\n

This autumn proved the perfect opportunity for both Summit and Team USA. Next weekend, the U.S. Women\u2019s 7\u2019s team will begin their preparation for next summer\u2019s Tokyo 2020 Olympics with the first stop on the HSBC Women\u2019s 7s Series at Glendale\u2019s Infinity Park, which hosts the USA Women\u2019s 7s Tournament Oct. 5-6.<\/p>\n

In advance of the tournament, Bydwell remembered Pennell\u2019s offer. When she mentioned it to Brown, they felt it could serve as an ideal team-building opportunity for the American players as they began to dial-in their roster for Tokyo 2020.<\/p>\n

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Summit High Tiger rugby alums (left to right) Lilly Weldon, Meg Rose, Becca Jane Rosko and Marin Pennell are seen at the 2017 NCAA National Championship between Quinnipiac and Dartmouth.<\/strong>
Courtesy Courtlandt Pennell<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201c\u2018Is that invitation still open to come to Breck?,’\u201d Pennell recalled of a phone conversation with Bydwell two months ago. \u201cAnd my short answer is always, \u2018100%, absolutely. We\u2019ll make it work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

From there, Summit Rugby showcased the organization and community it has built ever since Summit High students Mike David and Alison Aichinger came to Barth in 1997 and asked him to help start up a rugby program. Pennell and Summit Rugby then went to community sponsors and partners, asking if there\u2019s any way they could help to host Team USA over the weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Hey, we\u2019ve got the Olympic team coming,’\u201d Pennell said of his outreach, \u2018can you guys,\u2019 And the answer was always, \u2018yep! What do you need?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Summit High alum Cassidy Bargell\u2019s Team USA portrait from when she captained the U.S. U-18 team in France in the summer of 2016.<\/strong>
Courtesy Courtlandt Pennell<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Peak One Express will transport Team USA to and from the Front Range. Beaver Run Resort is set to host the team for two nights. Breckenridge restaurants Briar Rose and Giampietro\u2019s signed on to host a reception Saturday night. The town of Breckenridge provided field time and rec passes. Kat Pummill will lead the team through a yoga class. Lolo Juice and Soupz On donated breakfast and lunch. And Mi Casa will feed the aspiring Olympians Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis really sort of hammers home that we are a rugby community,\u201d Pennell said.<\/p>\n

Though Team USA won\u2019t be doing any high-altitude training in Summit before heading down to Glendale on Monday to get ready for the tournament, Pennell, Barth and Brown said there is an element of acclimatizing to the team\u2019s stay in Summit. But, more importantly, Team USA will grow closer ahead of the Olympics while also paying it forward to Summit\u2019s youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust think about if you are a freshman and you are starting to play rugby,\u201d Pennell said. \u201cHow you are literally hanging out with women who will be in the Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s clinic is for Summit High players, but Pennell and Barth said community members are more than welcome to stop by to watch and for photos and autographs. As for the Tiger players, Barth and Pennell said weekends like this one serve as a reinforcement for their grandest rugby dreams. And after rugby 7s debuted for the first time at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, those wide-eyed dreams include athletics\u2019 grandest stage.<\/p>\n

From current players like Vincze and Kimball to recent grads like Bargell, Natalie Gray and Marin and CeCe Pennell, Summit Tigers have extensive recent experience suiting up for the red, white and blue. Whether it\u2019s one of them or an excited youngster in the crowd Sunday, Barth and Courtlandt Pennell know one day it\u2019s likely a Tiger will live the dream of representing the U.S. at the Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow great would that be?\u201d said Pennell.<\/p>\n

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Summit High rugby alum CeCe Pennell plays for Team USA\u2019s U-18 team last year.<\/strong>
Courtesy Courtlandt Pennell<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Team USA’s U-18 team is seen at a tournament this past summer, including Summit High players PK Vincze (top left) and Nicole Kimball (bottom row, third from left).Courtesy Courtlandt Pennell BRECKENRIDGE \u2014 It\u2019s one thing to dream. It\u2019s another to put in the work and time necessary to live the dream. Summit Rugby\u2019s 22-plus-year journey […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-799870","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-24 15:43:57","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799870\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}