Milwaukee, WI – The Milwaukee Barbarians Athletic Club today announced that Pewaukee native Ben Landry has been invited to the United States Olympic Committee Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif to compete for a spot on the USA Eagles World Cup team that heads to England later this year.
Landry has been playing rugby since middle school in an amateur career extending through high school and college where he played for both UW Platteville and UW Whitewater. In 2013, he joined the collegiate All Americans — an all-star team sponsored by USA Rugby — on a tour of New Zealand. With both size and athleticism, Landry was successful at a number of other sports in college including basketball and football where he joined the team as a preferred walk-on.
Weighing in at 245 lbs with a 6’5” frame, Landry is a formidable presence in any rugby match. He currently trains with the Seattle Saracens and played club rugby with the Milwaukee Barbarians this past fall on the Division 1 side. In his six matches this season for the Barbarians, he has scored 3 tries.
The invitation to the World Cup training camp is the third time in 12 months that Landry has received attention from National team selectors. Landry was selected for the USA Rugby AIG Men’s Collegiate All-Americans’ New England Tour last summer and was called up to join the USA Selects in the Americas Rugby Championship (ARC) in October.
In August, Landry signed with Premier Rugby Management with the hope of finding a professional rugby contract overseas.
About the Milwaukee Barbarians
The Barbarians or 'Babas' is the premier club for rugby union in the state of Wisconsin and was formed in 2012 through a strategic partnership between two local teams. As a member of USA Rugby, the Milwaukee rugby team compete at the highest level by fielding a Division 1 team in the Midwest regional competition where they are currently in 4th place with a 6-3-0 record.
The Barbarians also field a Division 3 team in the local Wisconsin-Illinois conference and are in second place with a 6-0-0 record.
The Barbarians train and play their home games at Zablocki Park located at 3717 W Howard Ave, Greenfield, WI 53221. Their next Division 1 home game is Saturday, April 18 at 1PM.
More information on the Milwaukee Barbarians can be found online at http://milwaukeerugby.org.
About the USA Eagles
The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in the sport of rugby union. The national team is managed by USA Rugby, which is a member of the North American and Caribbean Rugby Association, one of six regional governing bodies under the International Rugby Board.
The Eagles are the reigning Olympic champion in rugby, having won gold at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics, and are currently ranked 18th in the world. Rugby has not been played at the Olympics since 1924, but makes a return in 2016 at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
On Nov. 1, 2014, the Eagles hosted the New Zealand All Blacks — the current world champions — at Soldier Field in Chicago. The Eagles will represent the USA at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England this Fall.
Only the very best players from the top American clubs are invited to join official Eagles selection and training camps. Invitations are usually based on performances in domestic Division 1 or premiership matches, and performances in the Americas Rugby Championship.
More information can be found online at http://usarugby.org.
Contact & Download
The official press release may be downloaded here. To learn more, please contact:
Patrick Sharpe
Coach, Milwaukee Barbarians
Tel: (414) 899-5090
[email protected]
