That's the message from Australian sevens star Emilee Cherry to rugby players preparing to take part in next Saturday's Kiama Sevens. 

While teams from across NSW and the ACT will battle it out for a share of $35,000, Cherry confirmed there will be much more than prize money on the line, with Australian sevens staff preparing to keep a close watch over proceedings.

"On the back of the 2016 Rio gold medal and Commonwealth Games silver medal last year, it's so important for us to keep developing those grassroot levels," Cherry said.

"We've seen a lot of our Australian squad move on after those two big tournaments, so it's important for us to keep developing those younger players.

"A tournament like this gives them that opportunity to really stand up for their club team, put their hand up and say they want to be one of those players that can go forward and play for NSW and move into that Australian squad."

At a time when rugby union is struggling to attract the hearts and minds of Australian sports fans, rugby sevens has bucked the trend.

The shortened version of the sport has experienced a boom throughout the past few years, with tournaments popping up across the country and fans turning out in droves to support the Australian men's and women's teams.

As Rugby Australia has refined its sevens development model, Cherry revealed the important role signature tournaments such as the Kiama Sevens play in helping identify the emerging generation of Australian stars and potentially, future Olympic gold medalists. 

"Previously we had to scout from other sports. Tournaments like this give opportunities to players who are just on the verge of making our squad to show up and show what they can do and push for that next level spot."

Cherry has stood aside from the Australian team in 2019, with the Olympic gold medalist announcing her pregnancy in January. She has been joined in missing World Series tournaments by stars Charlotte Casslick, Shannon Parry and Wollongong's Emma Tonegato, who returned to the side for the recent Sydney Sevens.

With so many veterans forced to miss playing time, coach John Manenti has turned to a number of younger players to fill the void.

For many of those girls, that journey to the Australian squad started at a regional tournament like the Kiama Sevens or Central Coast Sevens.

"Rugby Australia have created a really great pathway and we've seen some really young stars coming through this season that have come through those pathways, either the school girls or the Uni Sevens series.

"We've seen the likes of Sariah Parki and Lily Dick come through and really step up to those starting spots in the Australian team.

"So they are really crucial, it might seem like a long shot to someone who has just started off playing in a domestic tournament, but it does really happen quite fast going from domestic to international level."