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Jessica Javelet never wanted to play rugby in the Olympics. And while she may be a crucial part of the USA seven-a-side team premiering in Rio this year, she always had a rather different Olympic dream.Up until a few years ago, she was expecting to represent her country on the global stage in field hockey.When I didnt make the 2008 roster for Beijing and then stopped playing, I thought that my Olympic dreams were over, she says. I thought Id missed out on that dream. To come back and try and have a second chance at it is something I never even thought would be possible. Im really excited to have this second opportunity.Perhaps its unsurprising that Javelet -- JJ to her friends -- never had rugby in her plans. The sport largely flies under the radar in the U.S., dwarfed by the more traditionally popular team sports. And across the world, rugby has typically been played by men, with womens teams coming as a relatively late addition. Seven-a-side rugby has been established for more than a century, but with smaller teams and shorter playing times, its often in the shadow of its 15-a-side sibling.When compared to Olympians who have trained for their sport since they were children, many of the players who will be wearing the USA shirt this summer came to rugby relatively late in life, typically after successful high school and college athletic careers in another discipline.Javelet, 31, only got into rugby after a former hockey teammate suggested it to her. She was looking for a new sporting challenge after putting her stick away and tried football for three years before being invited to a rugby camp. It was love at first hit.Megan Bonny, 26, and Kelly Griffin, 29, each played rugby for the first time in college. Both had competed in track, soccer and basketball as teenagers, and both wanted a new sport to try.I was really looking for something to do, says Bonny, and rugby was a fun new opportunity. It was at the time something to get me active again and be social, and it turned into something that was really good for me. It really pushed me to get motivated in school, be motivated in getting to the next level in rugby, and its been a really big thing in my life.But when Bonny and Griffin started playing, neither had expected that they would get the chance to go to the Olympic Games. Rugby sevens addition to the list of Olympic events was confirmed only in 2009.When rugby was announced as going to be included in the Olympics in 2009 it was like, Oh! Griffin says. It was like this might go somewhere, but at that point, a long shot. Fast forward a couple of years...Griffin is quick to stress that rugby is slowly gaining a higher profile in the U.S., with academies and camps springing up all over the country, and points out that this is reflected in the demographics of the squad going to the?Olympics.There are a couple of girls on our team now who are in high school or just graduated from high school -- they started playing in eighth grade.Theyre maybe five or six years younger than we are -- well, more for me, Griffin says. Were just a little bit older, but rugby is starting to take off in high school.Participation -- male and female -- in rugby in the U.S. increased by 81 percent from 2008 to 2013, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. According to USA Rugby, about one-third of the 1.13 million players in 2009 in the U.S. were women. And since then, the sport has grown massively at collegiate level, with more teams going full varsity. The players of Team USA think thats an incredibly positive development.We would like the American public -- boys and girls -- to start getting exposed to it earlier on so we can get top athletes to start playing rugby and continue playing, says Javelet, so thats something were really hoping for with the Olympics -- we get all the live coverage and we generate a lot of interest from younger players that want to start getting involved.The late blooming of rugby in the U.S. could serve as a disadvantage to the in the Olympics, but its not a roadblock. The team finished fifth in the 2014-15 Womens World Sevens series, a competition between national teams in rounds across the globe. They had a good showing in Atlanta in April, winning five of six games in that round, but they ended up sixth in the rankings after being narrowly defeated by France 19-22?in the final round.It was Australia who picked up its first sevens title in that series -- the first team to manage to wrest the championship from New Zealand. Those two neighbor countries are looking like the teams to beat in Rio.The USA squad has also had an eventful build-up to their Rio preparations. The team has now had three head coaches in the span of a year: Jules McCoy left her position as coach in April after her second spell in the role. The new coach, Richie Walker, had previously been the assistant to Ric Suggitt, who had been replaced as coach by McCoy in September.Richie is an obvious choice to move the team towards the goals laid out for Rio, USA Rugby director of performance Alex Magleby said in a statement after Walkers appointment, adding: We need minimal disruptions moving forward.And Javelet, for one, announced her surprise departure from the international scene following the 2015 Canada Sevens tournament before returning six months later after McCoys appointment.Griffin, the squads captain, is keeping her team focused. Speaking over the phone, the players camaraderie is evident, with laughter in the background alongside jokes and teasing as they talk. The squad are based at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California, a year-round facility dedicated to maximizing teams performance across sporting disciplines.Realistically, were together almost every single day, Bonny says. Even on our off days, were coming in here for treatment.Says Griffin: Or were like, Hey, lets go get lunch! -- all the time. Or, You wanna go to a movie? We hang out every single day, lets hang out on our off days! A lot of us live together, were roommates. Were pretty close. It helps with the team chemistry. Everyone is really great.And being Americans, they take winning very seriously. In a brand-new event they have the chance to make their mark -- and bring home medals.The American rugby players have been inspired by their soccer-playing equivalents -- not just the current World Cup holders and Olympic gold medalists, but the legendary team of 1999, who won the World Cup on home turf after a dramatic penalty shoot-out, and seared the image of a celebrating Brandi Chastain on to the memories of a nation.I know the 99 World Cup was really influential for a lot of us, says Griffin. Thats when we were kids, in middle school. My parents took me to those games and that was really inspirational for a lot of us to see that, to be like, Look at them, I want to do that, we can do that, and that continues to be an inspiration to us going forward.Griffin is unafraid to say she is hoping that her team will challenge for the gold medal this summer, but these women also have a long-term view. They are pleased that there will be a U.S.-based professional league for their male counterparts -- and they know that there is a huge responsibility on their shoulders to gain media attention for the womens game.I think its really going to explode after the Olympics, Bonny said, and we can give that excitement to everybody else.We really want to perform well and make everyone whos worked so hard to get us where we are proud of us, make the American people proud of us, and represent the country well, Griffin said. The fact that we are Americans and we put so much emphasis on winning and being the best -- its really for us trying every day to get better. Were really pushing that limit.An earlier version of this story had a photo with a caption that incorrectly identified Kelly Griffin. Sheyi Ojo Jersey . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. Jordan Henderson Liverpool Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. http://www.liverpoolgear.us/Authentic-Sadio-Mane-Liverpool-Jersey/ . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers. Rafael Camacho Liverpool Jersey .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. Adam Lallana Liverpool Jersey . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). TORONTO -- After watching DeMar DeRozan drop more than 30 points on an opponent for the eighth time in nine games this season, Toronto coach Dwane Casey suggested that the game keeps slowing down for the NBAs leading scorer.DeRozan, who is averaging 34.0 points after scoring 33 in the Raptors 118-107 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday night, agreed.Yeah, I always find ways I can be better mentally, physically, skill-wise, he said following Torontos fourth straight win over New York. I always try to find something in the offseason and during the season as well.The outburst put DeRozan in an exclusive club. In the last 50 years, only Michael Jordan, World B. Free and Tiny Archibald have started a season registering 30-plus points in eight of the first nine games.In a see-saw game that saw 27 lead changes, DeRozan provided a reassuring presence for a team that started one rookie in Pascal Siakum and a second-year player in Norman Powell, who had 19 points.Point guard Kyle Lowry, who scored what turned out to be the winning points with 1:41 to play on a driving layup, pointed to DeRozans fourth-quarter, 4-point play.He was serenaded with chants of MVP! MVP! from the crowd as he put the game out of reach with 26.8 seconds to go.Were just going to keep riding that coattail, Lowry said. Were going to keep letting him do him. Were going to rally around him and keep helping him be great.Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points, while Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick Rose added 21 apiece. Rose, who seemed to be favoring his shoulder at points in the game, said it was just a stinger.Losing, it hurts, period, Rose said after the Knicks fell to 3-6. Ive never been a loser in my life and just got to figure ways out. Were closer, a lot closer and the effort that we had, we need to find that effort for the entire game.TIP-INSKnicks: New York is 0-2 in the back end of back-to-back games. It has 15 such games this season. . The Knicks havent won a season series against thhe Raptors since the 2010-11 season, and are 4-9 against them in their last 13 games.ddddddddddddRaptors: F DeMarre Carroll was dropped from the starting lineup for the first time this season to give him some rest. Powell took his place. . Former Raptor Muggsy Bogues was in attendance, throwing signed basketballs into the crowd. . Saturdays game marked the first of 16 Atlantic Division games for Toronto. The Raptors have not lost a season series with their division rivals since 2012-13.OLD IS NEW AGAINThe Raptors wore blue throwback jerseys in tribute to the Toronto Huskies of the old Basketball Association of America, which eventually became the NBA. The Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers on Nov. 1, 1946, at Torontos Maple Leaf Gardens in what the NBA regards as the first game in its history, won 68-66 by the Knicks. The Raptors will wear the Huskies blue uniforms and play on a specially designed Huskies court on six occasions this season, and now have a 5-3 record when wearing the throwback uniforms.THEY SAID ITPowell on guarding Anthony: Im a student of the game. I watch a lot of film, especially guys I look up to. Ive watched so much Carmelo Anthony in my day, played with him so much in (video game NBA) 2K. The Knicks were my favorite team.STRO SHOWToronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman watched the game from courtside, and threw a few signed mini basketballs into the crowd, launching a couple of the souvenirs all the way to the back of the lower bowl.UP NEXTKnicks: Host Dallas on Monday looking to snap a five-game losing streak against the Mavericks, who have won three straight at Madison Square Garden.Raptors: Visit Cleveland on Tuesday for the first time since last seasons Eastern Conference finals. The Cavaliers beat the Raptors in Toronto last month in the first of four meetings between the teams this season. ' ' '