Mitchell Hirose, a 2019 Maui High School graduate, will represent the United States as a high school All-American in Rugby this month. The Maui News / ROBERT COLLIAS photo

KAHULUI — A year ago, Mitchell Hirose had no idea he was bound for a rugby career following his graduation from Maui High School.

Now, a college career at rugby national power Central Washington University awaits in the fall, but first Hirose will represent the United States at the Under-18 Can-Am Sevens Series set for July 11 to 13 in Toronto after recently being selected as a high school All-American.

“It was pretty crazy, I didn’t think I would get selected. Our team mom just asked us to put our names in; we got the email about a month ago that we got selected, so I was pretty stoked about that,” Hirose said at Kahului Community Center field on Tuesday.

“It’s pretty amazing. I really only started rugby this year. I played when I was little, but I didn’t really think much of it,” he said.

It was at a tournament on the North Shore of Oahu last December where Hirose caught the eye of the CWU coaching staff. He has been offered a spot on the team and appears to be a strong candidate to earn a scholarship soon after his arrival in Ellensburg, Wash.

“The play that beat Kahuku, a ball was kicked and he chased it down,” said Maui Rugby Union President Jack Breen. “He has used that really effectively…. The smallest space, he can get through there and fly. He scored against Kahuku when we were a man down after a penalty.

“The Central Washington coach was there when we played Kahuku, and the guy was beside himself because he had no idea about Mitchell. He was not there to see us, he was coming to see Kahuku.”

Hirose went out of his way to credit Breen, Kahului Rugby club and the Kihei Youth Center for his development in the sport.

“Mitchell started at the Kihei Youth Center, and he was young when he started playing, so he has very good field vision and spatial awareness from starting as a youngster,” Breen said.”He’s got very good space skills. He can identify space and exploit space really well. His speed allows him to do that.”

Hirose was a second-team Maui Interscholastic League All-Star in football as a senior, but at 5-foot-6, 150 pounds, he knew it was unlikely his gridiron career would continue into college.

Now, he is a wing and scrum half in rugby. He may see time at center in Toronto. The U.S. All-Americans will be split into two teams: Stars and Stripes. Hirose will line up for the Stars in the four-team tournament.

“I just kind of wanted something to do after football and so many doors opened after,” he said. “I’m just really fortunate that everything is kind of falling into place for me.”

Vili Tolutau, a Baldwin graduate who starred at CWU until graduating last year, now plays for the Seattle Seawolves of Major League Rugby. Tolutau was the MVP of the first MLR championship match last year and recently starred on the Seawolves’ second straight title team. Tolutau is also a member of the U.S. national team pool.

“It’s pretty awesome, I have some pretty big shoes to fill,” Hirose said. “He kind of set the bar for Maui rugby. He was one of the best players to come out of Central Washington, so I have a lot of work to do, but it’s really exciting.”

Hirose already was set to go to CWU to study exercise science with an eye on becoming a physical therapist, but his breakout performance against Kahuku changed all that.

“I knew they were going to be there, so I wanted to perform well so I could get the attention from the scout, and it went pretty well,” Hirose said. “We won that tournament. … I performed pretty well, and I was pretty fortunate.”

If Hirose continues to perform well as a freshman at CWU, he will likely join Tolutau and fellow Mauians Kina Malafu, Fume Reyes, Ana Malafu and E.J. Fehoko as scholarship rugby players in college.

Atu Falekaono, the 2017 MIL Defensive Player of the Year in football for Maui High, will attend Notre Dame College in Eclid, Ohio, to play rugby and another Saber, Mason MacDonald, is set to play for BYU this fall.

“I’m still learning a lot about rugby,” Hirose said. “There’s a lot of different rules, and I learn new things from our coaches, but I guess speed helps a lot.

“I use a lot of my football skills in rugby, but I’m still learning how to pass better, kick better. My (rugby) IQ is still kind of low. I want to learn a lot more about the game because IQ is super important.”

As a high school junior, he thought about returning to the game he played from 4th- to 6th-grade but already was committed to the Maui High track team.

Now, he is all in on rugby.

“I’m pretty happy with that. Rugby is so much fun,” Hirose said.

He was a football and rugby teammate of Sione Lolohea, a rising senior at Maui High who is currently playing for the USA Rugby high school All-Americans in Vancouver, British Columbia, for a tournament in the traditional 15-a-side game.

Lolohea was offered a football scholarship to BYU as an 8th-grader at Maui Waena Intermediate School.

“Sione, he’s awesome, he’s such a cool dude, and he’s such a great teammate,” Hirose said. “He has a bright future in rugby, like, whatever he decides, football or rugby. He’s a great athlete. He’s an amazing specimen, and he works really hard, too.”

Hirose met Tolutau for the first time in person on Monday and got a chance to talk about CWU and a future in rugby.

“He’s a great dude,” Hirose said. “He was telling me I’m really going to enjoy it up there. He’s going to be in Seattle, so hopefully I can go watch one of his games and spend some more time with him because he’s an awesome guy.”

With his rapid rise, Hirose now has dreams of perhaps becoming a teammate of Tolutau as a professional or with the U.S. national team.

“It’s a goal, it would be something pretty awesome if I were to be able to get there,” Hirose said. “But I’m just kind of focusing on getting a degree, trying to figure out my occupation in the future. If an offer comes to play in the MLR, I can’t really deny it.

“There’s a future in rugby for me, so I’m really just trying to work hard and get better at rugby.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.