Meet the 2026 Kevin Higgins Scholarship Class
Eleven student-athletes. Eleven campuses across two continents. One shared belief that rugby builds people, not just players.
The Kevin Higgins Scholarship helps rugby student-athletes pursue their education and their game. This year it takes the shape of eleven remarkable young people, and every one of them is here because supporters like you invested in them. Meet the class your generosity made possible.
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Jayden Williams
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Now at The Ohio State University as a 4.3 GPA lock who helped St. Edward High School place fourth at Nationals for the first time in school history. He played the U19 RAN tournament in Mexico this summer and is chasing a U20s spot and, one day, the 2031 World Cup.
RaeLeigh Sparzak
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Captained North Bay's U19 girls side and made the EGRL Select team, persevering through real personal adversity and a learning difference to become the leader her coach calls selfless and kind. She now plays at West Chester University while studying education.
Gideon Mandel
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A USA U18 pathway selection with a 4.34 GPA and a full IB diploma, now at Indiana University. His brother Jacob earned this same Higgins Scholarship two years ago.
Spencer Huntley
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A scrum-half with USA U18, U20, and U23 selections, among the youngest players named to the U20 and U23 squads, and a 2025 National Championship Co-MVP. He now plays at Hartpury University in England.
Finnegan Kenney
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Now at University College Dublin, drawn across the ocean by Ireland's rugby culture. A versatile back who has played many positions, he is determined to earn a red, white, and blue jersey.
Timothy "Mateo" Bresenden
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Lost his father at age three and credits rugby's coaches as the father figures who anchored him. A High School All-American flanker and 2025 National Champion Co-MVP, he balanced two jobs and family responsibility, and is now at the University of Utah studying civil engineering.
Lolua Tauanu'u
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The first person in her entire family to attend college, she is now doing it at Harvard. A 4.0 student and three-time national champion captain at Belmont Shore, she now coaches the U8s and teaches Samoan cultural dance to pay it all forward.
Landon Lockhart-Keener
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Captained Rebels Rugby for four years and won Tropical 7s and Nationals 7s titles, twice climbing onto USA national championship teams. He now studies finance in the honors college at the University of Kentucky.
Shawn Ray
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Class valedictorian, a quantum-computing researcher and nonprofit founder whose "Coding With Shawn" platform has reached 42,000 learners. He is also an All-State flanker, and he is now at Carnegie Mellon studying artificial intelligence.
Charlotte Brandt
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A 4.0 student now playing NCAA Division I rugby at Queens University of Charlotte, coached her whole life by her father. She dreams of returning home to rebuild women's rugby in Arizona.
Marco Romeo
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A NorCal All-Star from the Danville Oaks, now at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, chasing a spot on the first fifteen and a future as a veterinarian.
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Behind every name is a donor who believed a young person's potential was worth backing. These eleven will carry rugby's values into science, engineering, finance, technology, education, and coaching, and the rest of their lives. Thank you for making the 2026 class possible.
