It's Going to be a Hot NAI 7s in More Ways than One

07.27.2026Elite 7s

SacAIR won the Boys U18 Elite in 2025, but it's wide open this year.

Author: Alex Goff

The North American Invitational 7s is set to kick off Friday with a wide range of contenders and well over 100 teams involved.

Friday sees about 170 games on the slate across 11 fields. With an expanded number of fields at the Regional Athletic Complex just north of Salt Lake City, the tournament has also made the day a little shorter for everyone, which is a good thing.

Today, Monday, July 27, the NAI 7s has announced that the games will be starting earlier than originally announced so as to allow teams to avoid the hottest part of the day. This is in reaction to anticipated high temperatures topping 100 degrees fahrenheit.

Temperatures in Salt Lake City take a few hours to reach their high, but the temperatures stay close to the high for several hours. So the original kickoff time for the final games on Friday was 3:20 PM, which would be right at the highest temperature, but, crucially, U14s would have wrapped up by 3PM and only about 12% of the teams will play at 3:20.

However, today it has been announced that the games will kick off an hour earlier, meaning the kickoff of the final games would be 2:20PM. This is thanks to the tournament organizers and the venue, the RAC, being understanding about player welfare while also recognizing that players want to play.

The tournament has already, each year, been adding more and more hydration and cooling stations, including expanding their shaded tent area where players and fans can cool off.

Here's a look at some teams to watch.

Girls U18s

2025 Elite Winner: Majestics
2025 Open Winner: SacAIR

The Tier 1 in this bracket is highly-concentrated. Every team in here is good: Utah Cannibals, Bitterroot Koa, Belmont Shore, Majestics, Tucson, and Iowa Hawkettes. That's only six teams but they are very strong. Bitterroot is out of Montana and these players have enjoyed some solid high-level tests in 15s in the GNC.

Tucson and Iowa are both teams from states where 7s is played a lot. They both tested themselves in 15s during the summer against high-level opposition and now return to 7s in good position to shake things up.

But the competition is very tough. Belmont Shore and Majestics are generally the two most-skilled girls programs in the nation. Their passing and open-field play is virtually unmatched.

Except, perhaps, this year with United. Unleashing a nice combination of power, speed, and passing skill United beat Majestics in 15s this year, and at the National Championships lost to Belmont Shore by a try. That championship ended up Belmont Shore 1st, Majestics 2nd, and United 3rd, so the rivalry among these three will be incendiary.

In the U18 Open bracket, Kahuku, SacAir, San Mateo, and Badger Rugby Academy are all teams to watch in a group that could easily bring a surprise.

Boys U18s

2025 Elite Winner: SacAIR
2025 Open Winner: EPA

Twelve very strong teams are in the Elite bracket, with multiple-time winners Rebel Rugby Academy fielding two teams (as they often do) and bringing what has been an impressive winning formula.

However, Rebel fell to SacAIR in 2025 and will want their title back. Rebel will have their work cut out for them in pool play while SacAIR will have to deal with a strong Eagle Impact Rugby Academy team. Watch out also for Ronins, San Mateo, TOA, and Kahuku.

As usual, the Open Division in U18 Boys is huge (although 2025 winners East Palo Alto aren't there this year). Panther Rugby Academy is one of the leading lights here, and we're interested to see the SoCal Tribe side. But what is of interest also is that many more existing teams (teams not just made for summer 7s) are competing. That team unity and teammate understanding could be a boost for LCA, Chicago Lions, Mountain View, Mother Lode, and Katy Barbarians.

U16s

2025 Boys U16 Winner: Rebel Rugby
2025 Girls U16 Winner: Utah Cannibals
2025 Boys U16 Tier 2 Winner: LCA

Boys have two tiers in this very popular bracket and girls have one robust bracket. For the girls, Belmont Shore is one of the favorites and their level of skill and field awareness is exceptional. USA West, TOA, and Sacramento are all teams to watch.

For the boys, it's wide open, with teams from Atlantis, Rebel, Belmont Shore, Utah Select, TOA, and SacAIR are all very strong, and that's just the beginning. Rebel are the defending champs.

U14s are huge in this tournament, while the U23 men is very unpredictable and always a fun event for a surprise. For the U23 men Belmont Shore returns after winning in 2025.

Goff Rugby Report will be on-site so look for interviews and reports.

Interesting Tournament Development

Along with the earlier kickoffs, the tournament has unveiled a different tournament model. In previous years they don't charge for fan entry, they charge for parking. However, this year, the tournament has opted not to charge for parking (this allows people to park a little faster and also cuts costs in paying parking attendants.

They are, instead, asking fans to voluntarily donate a parking payment to: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2026-nai7s