Saw the following story tonight while doing my rounds at work, came home & looked it up on the newspapers website: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/spor...ry/360769.html

I'm posting the story below, just in case it "disappears" from the newspaper site.
What a great opprotunity for this lad.
I'm jealous!

Mar, 25, 2008
SPOTLIGHT

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT:
Gavin Snyder will play rugby for U-19 team in Scotland next month

MICHELLE NOLAN
FOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Gavin Snyder recently qualified for both the state wrestling tournament and a national rugby team, yet the Sehome sophomore also endured a winter of deep disappointment.
The 16-year-old athlete’s frustrations haven’t dampened his enthusiasm and dedication for rugby and wrestling, however. He just hopes to have fewer misfortunes next year.

Snyder’s fourth-place regional finish — following a second at district — qualified him for Class 2A competition at 215 pounds, a rare distinction for someone so young in the heaviest weights.

But the 6-foot-1, 205-pound athlete felt he had to bypass the state wrestling tournament in February because of a conflict with a second camp in Florida for the U-17 national rugby team.

He already had made the national team — the nation’s 30 best players for his age — following a grueling evaluation process in California, Indiana and Florida.

Yet soon after making the rugby camp a priority over state wrestling, he received a brief, impersonal e-mail, telling him he would not be on the 26-man roster for a tournament in England.

“I was angry at first, but I made up my mind I wasn’t going to complain about it,” said Snyder. “I just decided to work harder and try again next year to make the national team, and this time also the roster for the international tournament.”

Fortunately for Snyder, he is scheduled to play four games with the Chuckanut Rugby Club’s U-19 team during its trip to Scotland April 2-14.

“That trip makes my disappointment easier to take. It helps make up for some of the disappointment of missing the tournament in England,” said Snyder, who is praying that the elite rugby camp next winter won’t conflict with wrestling.

“That was really tough,” he said of skipping state wrestling, especially since sophomore classmates Justin Santos, who took seventh, and Nash Stone also qualified.

“I was texting those guys constantly, keeping in touch,” Snyder said.

Snyder recently began play with the Chuckanut U-19 team; he’s just a couple of months too old for the U-16 team.

“That’s OK,” he said. “I like the challenge and the tougher competition. I love the camaraderie of rugby, and it’s a lot of fun running with the ball after (formerly) being a lineman in football.”

Chuckanut manager Neil Gardner says it’s important to remember that despite his disappointment, Snyder enjoys national distinction.

“Gavin is still one of the 30 best players his age in the nation,” Gardner said. “It looked like he was going to make it (the international tournament), but someone else got a better look. It’s a political process, and sometimes there’s a (regional) bias.

“He’s our best sophomore, and a real team player. Guys will rally around Gavin. He leads by example.”

Gardner says Snyder and his U-19 teammates are in for a treat next week in Scotland. They’ll see the Melrose Sevens, the world’s oldest seven-a-side tournament, and they’ll also see a world all-star team.

Snyder was a promising football prospect at Sehome, even being called up to start a varsity game after his freshman season on the C team. But he wanted to play rugby year-round and so found a Canadian squad, the Bayside Sharks of Surrey, for the fall season.

“Rugby’s my favorite sport and I’m very passionate about it,” said Snyder, a solid science student who hopes to earn a rugby scholarship to a strong college such as Cal, St. Mary’s or Stanford.