Rivera helps U.S. 15U boys win gold at Junior International Cup

Alex Rivera came home to Clifton Park with a gold medal after helping the U.S. 15U boys flag football team beat Japan 49-18 in the Junior International Cup final in Los Angeles. The Christian Brothers Academy freshman closed the tournament with four interceptions, second among players in the eight-nation field, and added a pair of flag pulls in the championship as Team USA finished 6-0.

USA Football staged the fifth annual Junior International Cup from June 19-21 at Dignity Health Sports Park, with teams from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Panama, South Korea, Azteca from Mexico and the United States. More than 500 15U and 17U athletes and team personnel took part, and every game was streamed on HomeTeam Network. The U.S. boys rolled through the event with a 238-54 point differential and stayed perfect in the 15U division since the tournament debuted in 2022. Trey Newton was named MVP after the title run.

Rivera arrived on the final roster as a Rush/WR from Clifton Park, New York, after an April 16-19 training camp in Chula Vista. He was one of 12 players selected to the active roster, a tight group built around players who could handle both sides of the ball in a format that rewards speed, spacing and split-second reads. Head coach Jonathan Nagapen of Central Valley, New York, called Rivera the program’s “gold standard” in May and credited his positional flexibility as a major reason he fit the international game so quickly.

That flexibility showed throughout the week. Rivera played primarily on defense, where his interceptions helped set the tone for a U.S. team that trained together since March and regrouped monthly before getting to Los Angeles. Rivera said the squad felt like family because of the way it prepared, stayed on time, dressed alike and trusted one another, and coaches called the final stretch a chance for “caged dogs” to finally let it out.

The teams stayed in the same dorms, which put him in line and at meals with athletes from Japan, South Korea and other countries. Jeff Jones, the head coach of the All-American Sports/RFP Patriots in Clifton Park, had known Rivera since he was 4.