A new 7s competition only for single-school high school teams will be launched in October, 2022.

Slated to be held in Salt Lake City next fall, the event is designed to promote high school rugby supported by schools. The National Rugby School 7s hopes to bring in existing single-school programs as well as teams that don't have enough players from one school to form a 15s team.

"Getting more rugby teams in schools is the goal," said Tournament Director Mike Cressler. "So to that end, if you normally play for a high school club, but, say, 12 of your players come from one school, you could field a single-school 7s team for the National School 7s."

Set to be held a year from now, the National School 7s will be for boys and girls teams. There will be a Varsity and a JV bracket, as well as a middle school bracket. How those brackets are defined is interesting—Varsity is 9th Grade through 12th Grade; JV is 9th Grade through 11th Grade (so no seniors allowed).

Cressler, who runs the NAI 7s every summer in Salt Lake City, stressed that this is not a national championship. It's a national tournament, meaning teams from all over the nation are invited, but the tournament is more about exposing schools to the possibility of rugby than anything else. This, said Cressler, could be the opportunity for rugby players in a particular high school to persuade the school to back a team.

To get more information on the National School 7s and how to register, go to: nationalschools7s.com