Why do you watch the USA Rugby Club 7s Championships? To see the best teams? To revel in the athleticism? To see current stars of the game? Yes to all of that — and also,you may well get your first look at a star of tomorrow.

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The Club 7s Championships serves a massively useful purpose for American rugby as a whole, because it showcases athletes and whether those players can perform against stiff competition. Sometimes those players show that they can't score against strong defenses, or don't tackle big runners at crucial times. 

But for the ones who do show something, glory awaits. Here are seven players who launched themselves to greatness thanks to the USA Rugby Club 7s Championships:

1. Tui Osborne

The Riverside Rugby Club was a very good D2 club out of Southern California, but it was in 7s that the team exploded onto the American rugby scene. In 2003 and 2004, Riverside won Men's Club 7s nationals, with the help of the stalwart Nelo Lui and Mercurial Luke Waikamakama. Perhaps the main beneficiary of this success was Andrew "Tui" Osborne. A superb sidestepper and intelligent playmaker, Osborne helped spark Riverside to a title, and went on to play for the USA Men's 7s team. 

Later on, he coached Life University's college team to 7s success, and is now the head coach at St. Bonaventure.

2. Jess Wooden

ARPTC won it all in 2015 and Wooden was the MVP. The result didn't get her on the Olympic team, and didn't really move the needle in her push to make the Eagles 15s team, either. But she became a professional with Harlequins, and could, as she enters her 30s, poised to be great.

3. Lauren Hoeck

The sad fact is that women didn't have an official Club 7s Championships until 2011 — the best players would only convene for the now-defunct territorial sevens. But in 2011 we finally got what we'd always wanted, and Hoeck was ready. 

NOVA never won the tournament, but the unflinching physicality and leadership of Hoeck always had the Virginia team in the mix. She garnered national team attention because of this.

4. Psalm Wooching

Having played on the High School All-Americans, and then left rugby to play football at the University of Washington. Wooching came back to rugby upon his graduation, and the talk was all about "he's a good athlete, but ..." ... But can he remember how to play? Can he let go of bad football habits? Is he just a showcase player? Yes, yes, and no. Wooching had an impressive nationals last year for the Seattle Saracens team and was on the USA Selects a few weeks later.

5. Kelly Griffin

That almost experimental 2011 Women's Club 7s National Championships produced a winner in the Berkeley All Blues, and an MVP in Griffin. A quiet, smooth-running first receiver, Griffin is tough as the nails lying in the construction sites around the field the 2011 tournament was played on, and went on to become the USA's captain at the 2016 Olympics.

6. Perry Baker

Like a baby giraffe this teenager showed up in 2006 playing for Daytona — all knees and elbows and a long stride. He was raw — so very raw — but he had something. Daytona used him to win restarts because he was tall and could jump. And then they used him to blast past defenders because, as you know, he was fast.

Baker remained on lists for years, and he was enticed to Columbus, OH, to train with the 1823 team and the Tiger Academy there. Slowly he bulked up, learned some of the finer points of the game, and, thanks to some perseverance and hard work, became the world's best 7s player. 

7. Kelsi Stockert

A high school All-American candidate in high school starting in her freshman year, Stockert's rise to prominence was put on pause when she had a child when she was 19. For some — perhaps many — the prospect of all of that work to get back to playing shape would have been too daunting. Her goal was to make the Pacific Northwest select team. By the time she was finished, she was an Eagle, and her performance for the runner-up Seattle Saracens team in 2015 proved she had what it took in 7s, too.