Iowa Central's Tavius Sykora-Matthess recently got the chance to train with a select group of rugby standouts.

Sykora-Matthess was selected for the USA Rugby U23 Winter Camp. The event took place in Chula Vista, California from the U.S. Olympic Training Site. A total of 97 players were brought to the event to train and compete under the guidance of a robust roster of high-performance staff members. 

"All the players there for the week were great players," Sykora-Matthess said. "They were there for a reason, the level of competition was very high which made training fun. A lot of those guys are gonna end up playing rugby professionally so being around that level of play elevated my own. At the end of the day, it was a bunch of guys like me who love rugby and we're excited to be there. It's a cool feeling to have made friends with them, I know guys from all over the country all in really good programs and that's pretty cool.

"It means a lot to me that I was selected for this. It's the start of working towards my dream of being a professional rugby player and I am just so grateful that I was given this opportunity."

Huw Bevan, USA Rugby Head of Performance, Shawn Pittman, USA Men's XVs assistant coach and the head coach of the Utah Warriors, and several others were in attendance to instruct and coach the players. 

Sykora-Matthess went through two training sessions a day and took part in three meetings a day. 

"Training at the Olympic training center was an amazing experience I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to go and receive coaching from some of the coaches in the US," he said. "In meetings, we would go over what training would be focused on and then review and go over film of the previous training session to pick out positive things we did and negatives that we needed to work on. 

"Just being at the Olympic Training Center was kind of a surreal experience; that's where the best of the best train and it was an amazing facility. The USA men's national 7s team was there and I was able to see Danny Barrett there with us which was amazing for me because he's one of the reasons I started playing rugby." 

A graduate of Cedar Rapids Washington, Sykora-Matthess played 7s in high school. He also was a standout on the football field for the Warriors. His future plans include continuing to play rugby. 

"My time at Iowa Central has meant a lot to me, giving me a chance to continue doing what I love while getting an education has been great," Sykora-Matthess said. "It wouldn't be anything without my teammates though, they have truly become like family and made Iowa central a second home for me.

-By Dana Becker