Benjamin Cima (born March 20, 1996) is an American

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who plays

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

for the United States men's national team. Cima also plays for the

Seattle Seawolves The Seattle Seawolves are an American professional rugby union team based in the Seattle metropolitan area that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team was founded in 2017. The Seawolves won two MLR championships in 2018 and 2019, and los ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

(MLR). Cima formerly played club rugby for Rocky Gorge and also played at the international level for the United States men's national under-20 team and the

USA Selects The USA Falcons or the USA A national team, formerly known as the USA Selects, is the second national rugby team for the United States, usually used for uncapped matches and domestic club sides. The primary national team is known as the USA Eagles ...

Early life

Ben Cima was born in Argentina, the son of former La Salle rugby player, Marcelo Cima. At the age of seven, Cima moved to the United States. Cima was named an All-American in rugby during each of his final three years in high school, and in 2014 led

Gonzaga College Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Ir ...

to its first national championship in rugby at the High School National Invitational tournament.

Club career

Following his high school graduation, Cima played rugby at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, where he was a teammate to his older brother, Matias. Cima played senior level club rugby for Rocky Gorge in

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...

. In January 2018, Cima signed with the

San Diego Legion The San Diego Legion are an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California, that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team plays its home games at Torero Stadium. The Legion began play in the league's inaugural 2018 ...

to play in

's inaugural season. Cima currently plays for the

International career

USA Junior All-Americans

Cima made his debut in international play with the United States men's national under-20 team (Junior All-Americans) in 2014 and played at the 2014 Junior World Rugby Trophy. Cima also represented the United States at the 2016 Junior World Rugby Trophy. From his tenure with the Junior All-Americans, Cima is best-known for kicking a game winning penalty goal, from beyond 50 meters in the eightieth minute of play, in a victory over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in a 2016 Junior World Rugby Trophy qualifying match.

USA Selects

In late 2016, Cima made his debut with the USA Selects in the

2016 World Rugby Americas Pacific Challenge The 2016 World Rugby Americas Pacific Challenge was the inaugural rugby union tournament created by World Rugby for national 'A' teams to develop home grown talent for their national test sides. The Americas Pacific Challenge provides the Pacif ...

. He also represented the United States in the

2017 World Rugby Americas Pacific Challenge The 2017 World Rugby Americas Pacific Challenge was the second tournament of the Americas Pacific Challenge, which is a development competition for the Americas and Pacific island nations. The competition was hosted by Uruguay with all games playe ...

, scoring in a defeat to

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

, and in victories over

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and

USA Eagles

Cima made his debut with the USA Eagles on February 4, 2017, starting at fly-half in the Eagles' 29–23 victory over

in the

Americas Rugby Championship The Americas Rugby Championship, often informally called the Americas' Six Nations, was an annual international rugby tournament between six North and South American nations: Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina, Brazil national rugby u ...

. Cima scored three penalty goals and one

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Convert'', a 2023 film produced by Jump Film & Television and Brouhaha Entertainment * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * ...

in his debut.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cima, Ben 1996 births Living people American rugby union players United States international rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves New England Free Jacks players Ohio Aviators players San Diego Legion players Seattle Seawolves players Rugby union players from Buenos Aires