Middle School NIT Open for Applications
Middle School NIT Open for Applications
The Inaugural Middle School Rugby National Invitational Tournament is now accepting applications from US based middle school rugby teams.
 |
 |
 |
Much like the Boys High School Rugby National Championships, the idea of the tournament is to bring the very best teams together from around the nation to play severa- high level matches against teams they would not normally have the chance to face.
The date and venue for the tournament is now set: June 24th & 25th – to be played at the Manchester Meadows Sports Complex in Rock Hill, SC. The inaugural tourney, dubbed “The Ruck in Rock Hill” is an open tournament – meaning any team; club, single school, all-star, or high performance academy teams will ALL be considered.
Organizer Erik Saxon says the initial field of teams will be limited to 12 but, “We have the capacity to accept more than 12 teams if we get a concentration of teams that fit a certain category – say, single school or academy teams for example, we will look at creating specific divisions within the tournament itself. But initially, our objective is to identify and invite the 12 best middle school teams out there and have them all in the same place on the same weekend, playing great rugby – a true first for middle school rugby in the US,” he said.
The format for team will be full-on Rugby Union – true 15s with contested scrums, lifts in the lineouts – everything one would expect to see at the highest level of rugby. Saxon encourages teams that play a smaller format to not let that hold them back from applying.
“If you have this great team that you’ve been building for year, but you play 12-a-side, that’s great. We will still consider your team for the tourney…with the caveat that you now have 3 ½ month to put in a back row and work out the kinks of playing 15s. It is a natural progression that all of these players will be making anyway as they enter HS very soon – many this Fall,” said Saxon.
www.rugbynit.com
The Website for the Middle School NIT is up and running. Teams apply online and also there you can find a tournament overview & structure page along with a map of the venue and more. In fact, this will be a paperless tournament overall – meaning waivers, forms, rosters, schedules, hotel reservations, etc… will all be able to be done virtually – easy for coaches, administrators and parents.
The Rock Hill venue is top notch. The tournament will be played on two brand new turf pitches. Full stands for the gallery, warm-up fields, concession stand, picnic areas, lake walks, playgrounds for younger kids, and ample parking all went into making Manchester Meadows the winning bid for the inaugural tournament.
Tournament Director Doug Shipley explains, “It feels like the whole city of Rock Hill is behind this tournament. They are exciting to be hosting a National event and are pulling out all the stops to make visiting teams from around the country feel welcome and want to come back. Several larger cities, including nearby Charlotte were considered – but the hospitality and quality of this facility is first class. It was an easy decision.”
Teams will have until midnight on May 1st to apply. That being said, teams that apply early can and will be accepted and invited early if they merit an invitation – giving those teams extra time to prepare logistically. All applications will be reviewed and invitations sent no later than May 10th.
The review board for the MS NIT will be:
Erik Saxon – Tournament Commissioner
Doug Shipley – Tournament Director
Alex Goff – Tournament Advisor
In addition, the review board will be taking input from high level coaches and team references to make the final decisions on invitations.
The Middle School NIT will be an annual event. Plans are already underway for the 2018 Tournament. The hope being that the best middle school teams from around the USA have a target and goal to reach for each year beyond their own state or region in order to reach their full potential and truly test the best against the best.
