Jared Braun
Jared was born in Laguna Hills, California, and raised in Redwood City, California where he attended Junipero Serra High School. This is when Jared began his rugby career with the Peninsula Green Rugby Football Club and played throughout high school. He tried rugby coming out as an 8th grader but felt a little overwhelmed trying to tackle a gorilla named Ross Silverman. In 2008, Jared was selected for the USA U-18 national team, traveling to England to compete against three English Academy teams. In 2009, he represented the USA U-20 team in Kenya at the World Trophy tournament, where the USA won a Silver medal.
Jared attended the University of California, Berkeley and played rugby for this prestigious program. During his time at Berkeley, he earned his honorary ‘C’ (starting over half the games with the top/A side) and contributed to winning 2 national championships. Upon graduating from UC Berkeley in 2014, Jared played rugby for the Olympic Club in San Francisco until 2021.
Connection to Maccabi USA Rugby
After high school, in 2009, Jared was selected as one of the youngest players for the Maccabi USA Rugby team for the World Maccabiah Games where the team won a bronze medal. In 2013, Jared was once again selected for the Maccabiah team, where the team won the first ever Gold Medal in 7’s and Bronze Medal in 15’s. In 2017, Jared joined a select group to represent the USA for a third time at the World Maccabiah Games where the team won the USA’s only second Gold Medal ever in 15’s. In 2023, Jared became one of the rare individuals to particapet in four world Maccabiah Games. Maccabiah holds a special place in Jared’s heart as the Games and Isreal gave him an unbeleiveable experience and lifelong friendships. FTB
