Edison senior Shea Summers a burgeoning rugby star
Edison High School senior Shea Summers has been playing rugby for about eight years, starting with Back Bay Youth Rugby in Costa Mesa.
In the past several weeks, he has seen the fruits of his labor pay off with some very memorable experiences.
Summers was one of 12 players selected to go to Dubai over his Thanksgiving break with the N.A. Lions club, to participate in the Dubai 7s U19s championship.
It was a tough decision for Summers, who also plays receiver and fullback in football and runs the hurdles in track. The trip meant that he would miss Edison football’s game against Simi Valley for the CIF Southern Section Division 3 football title.
“It’s one of the biggest opportunities that has been brought in front of me in my whole life,” Summers said. “Having to pick between the two, especially so far in advance with the trip to Dubai, it kind of put me in a tough spot. But I kind of backed myself, and I was really happy with the decision I made and everything. I’m glad that everything worked out the way it did. I’m super-happy for all of the football guys for taking care of business, making all of that happen.”
When Summers returned to the team he didn’t make it back on the field for the final two games, he said, though he was in full pads for the Division 1-A state championship win over Fresno Central.
Summers, who caught seven passes for 153 yards and a touchdown this fall, knows that rugby is the sport that he’ll continue to play in college.
He took another exciting step over the last week, as he was invited to the United States Under-18 Training Camp in Chula Vista.
“Not only is he an amazing athlete, he’s a great person,” said Kelly Siemensma, who has two sons in the Edison football program. “He’s going to go far in life. He’s got a great heart and I know his commitment to the [football] team for the last four years, his parents’ commitment to the team for the last four years.”
Summers plays the important position of fly-half in rugby. The fly-half is a playmaker; Summers compared it to the quarterback in football.
The trip to Dubai was eye-opening, as Summers competed with some of the best players in his age group from both the United States and Canada. He said he also got the chance to play on some of the nicest fields he’s ever been on.
The N.A. Lions made the tournament semifinals before losing to the South African All-Star team.
“When we left Dubai, he was like, ‘I hope I’m back in seven-ish years playing for the U.S. professional team,’” said Shea’s mom, Shelly Summers. “He just loves the sport. He went to Ireland this summer as well to tour over there, so he’s just had a really great experience.”
Shea will now gear up to play for the Edison rugby team this winter as a team captain. The Chargers are coached by Ray Egan, an Irishman who’s a physics teacher at Huntington Beach High and former coach in the Irish pro league.
“I do think it’s growing,” Shea Summers said of the sport of rugby in Southern California. “There’s more and more high schools every year that are starting to put teams together. Edison’s team, we’re playing 15s now as opposed to 7s last year,” he said, referencing the numbers of players per side. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in our team. I think we’ll end up being pretty good, because we’ve got a lot of guys that have played before. If there’s players on our team that haven’t played before, they’re all really strong athletes.”
Shelly sees her son as helping to lead that charge.
“It’s a gentlemen’s sport,” she said. “For as aggressive as it looks when you’re watching it, they make it a point to be gentlemen off the field. It’s actually a really respectful, high sportsmanship sport, and Shea is a great ambassador for it.”
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