Ahmad Kamal Harajly (born 20 January 1994) is an American

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

center, fullback and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

international. Harajly played for the U.S. national rugby sevens team Wellington, New Zealand tour as an

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

recruitment standout in January 2015. Soon after the Wellington, New Zealand HSBC tour Harajly was then sent to Las Vegas, Nevada where he captained the

USA Falcons The USA Falcons was one of two national representative rugby union teams from the United States that competed in the North America 4 Series. History Formation The Falcons were founded in 2005 by the NA4 Committee. The NA4 Committee is made up o ...

. He was also a part of the United States national team select tour to Uruguay in 2016. He has played for Ohio Aviators in the US

PRO Rugby Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retire ...

competition. Ahmad joined the Major League Rugby on a short-term contract playing with

New England Free Jacks The New England Free Jacks are a professional rugby union team in Major League Rugby (MLR) based in the Greater Boston area. They were announced in September 2018 and began to compete professionally in October 2018. They competed in their first ...

having started at the outside center position in the Cara Cup against Connacht Rugby,

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Ulster Branch, which is one of ...

Munster Rugby Munster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Mumhan) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU's Munster B ...

and Leinster Rugby. Harajly has most recently re-signed with

for the 2020 season. Harajly began playing rugby in high school in suburban Detroit for the Dearborn Silverbacks, and then played club rugby with the Division I Detroit Tradesmen."A Look at the New Guy, Ahmad Harajly"
Rugby Today, Pat Clifton, February 3, 2015.

Early life

Harajly was born in Dearborn, Michigan to parents Hanadi and Kamal Harajly. He grew up on the East end of the city, with his 3 siblings. He attended Maples, Stout, and Dearborn High School all apart of the

Dearborn Public Schools The Dearborn Public Schools is a school district that includes the entire city of Dearborn, Michigan and a small portion of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, Dearborn Heights, both in Greater Detroit. Dearborn Public Schools is the third largest school ...

district. Harajly was raised in an American football dominated community, playing

Street football (American) Street football, also known as backyard football or sandlot football, is an amateur variant of American football primarily played informal ...

through his years along with organized athletics such as

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, soccer, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

at his local school sports teams. With his sporting background, Harajly's transition to

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

quickly excelled him to national recognition, capturing the attention of national selectors at the age of 20. After which he was selected to represent

USA Rugby USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of ru ...

at the

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

tour of the 2014–15 Sevens World Series.

Physical

As of 2016, Harajly could dead-lift 220 kg, squat 190 kg for 3 reps, bench-press 145 kg for 3 reps and do pull-ups with a 40 kg weight between his legs. Having a body-fat percentage of 7.5%

Rugby league

On 10 October 2019 Harajly was named in the

squad for the

2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League member ...

, due to both his parents originating from Lebanon;. During the

Harajly helped

achieve shocking victories against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

scoring 6 points total and being an X factor under the high ball in both games. Harajly sustained a shoulder injury towards the end of the England clash that left him out of the final pool match vs

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

failed to close out its pool with a loss to

. With a 2-1 pool B record

was eliminated due to point differential, with

advancing to the knockout round;.

References

https://www.usarugby.org/match/25527-usa-eagles-v-canada-a/#Vgw10QPFOCddYmM6.97

External links

Usarugby.orgRugbytoday.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harajly, Ahmad 1994 births Living people American people of Lebanese descent American rugby union players American rugby league players Lebanon national rugby league team players Sportspeople from Dearborn, Michigan Ohio Aviators players New England Free Jacks players Sportspeople of Lebanese descent