Ryne "Pono" Haitsuka (born 18 July 1991) is an American professional

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. He has played with such teams as

Mystic River The Mystic River is a riverU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 in Massachusetts. In the Massachusett language, means "large estuary", alluding to the tidal ...

in the American Rugby Premiership and the San Diego Breakers in the

PRO Rugby The Professional Rugby Organization, known as PRO Rugby, was an American professional rugby union competition. PRO began play in April 2016 with five teams and ceased operations by January 2017. The competition was sanctioned by USA Rugby and b ...

competition. He has also represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as a member of the

United States national rugby sevens team The United States national rugby sevens team competes in international rugby sevens competitions. The national sevens team is organized by USA Rugby, and was led by Head Coach Mike Friday from 2014-2024, when he resigned and was replaced b ...

USA national sevens team

Haitsuka attended

Kamehameha Schools Kamehameha Schools, formerly called Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE), is a private school system in Hawaii established by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, under the terms of the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was a formal membe ...

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

where he played

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

, and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. He later studied psychology at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

where he made the switch to rugby. As a member of OSU's rugby team, Haitsuka became a standout player, earning All-American honors in 2013 and a spot on

USA Rugby USA Rugby (formally 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 rugby ...

's developmental side at the Serevi RugbyTown 7s. Haitsuka put his collegiate studies on hold to attended the USA 7s training camp at the

Olympic Training Center Olympic Training Center may refer to: *United States Olympic Training Center * Olympic Training Center (Rio de Janeiro) *Olympic Training Center Velodrome The Olympic Training Center Velodrome, also known as the 7-11 Velodrome, is a velodrome in ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and in November 2013, was named to the national team roster. He made his USA Eagles debut at

2013 Dubai Sevens The 2013 Dubai Sevens was the second tournament within the 2013-2014 Sevens World Series. It was held over the weekend of 29–30 November 2013 at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Format The teams were drawn into four pools of ...

and scored his first try in the tournament’s Shield Semifinal against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Club rugby career

Mystic River Rugby Club

Haitsuka played with Boston-based

in the American Rugby Premiership. Haitsuka made over 20 appearances with the club between 2014–2016, helping them reach the National Championship Series in 2015, where they would eventually fall to NYAC in the Final Four. He also played with Mystic's sevens side, who finished third in the nation at the 2015 USA Rugby Club 7s (USARC7) Championship Series

San Diego Breakers

In 2016, Haituska signed with the San Diego Breakers in the upstart

competition, making 13 appearances before the league folded in 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haitsuka, Pono 1991 births Living people Male rugby sevens players United States international rugby sevens players Oregon State University alumni Mystic River Rugby players San Diego Breakers players Sportspeople from Honolulu County, Hawaii Rugby union players from Hawaii