One day, Evan Clark was playing on an AYSO U8 soccer team in the Palisades when one of the parents encouraged him to try rugby. The parent was Kilian Kerwin, founder of the youth program at the Santa Monica Rugby Club, and Clark has been hooked on the sport ever since.
Clark has honed his skills over the last 10 years and last week the Palisades High junior was invited to represent the USA on the High School All-American Under 18 national team at the Las Vegas Invitational.
“We actually brought two teams and mine went 2-1 both days and finished third. The other team was first.”
Now in his 10th season at SMRC, Clark played on the SoCal Griffins All-Star team the last two years an went to the Colorado Rocky Mountain high Tournament in Denver. He also recently spent 10 days in Phoenix at the HSAA Winter Camp.
“I’ve been playing with most of them [at SMRC] for years and we all get along great,” he said.
Clark, 17, lives in Mandeville Canyon and one of his teammates on SMRC’s U18 squad, nicknamed the Dolphins, is Palisadian Cameron Scott, a senior at Loyola High.
“When I was a freshman I played defense on the JV soccer team [at PaliHi] and as a sophomore I was a free safety on the JV football team, but I decided to focus on rugby,” Clark said. “I play scrumhalf and wear the No. 9 jersey, which is the equivalent to the quarterback in football. I pass the ball to the start the attack.”
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