Teams are quickly signing up for the inaugural Middle School Rugby National Invitational Tournament, to be held in June in Charlotte, NC

For more, and to apply, go to: http://www.rugbynit.com

Photos courtesy CJRA.

This Middle School NIT is organized in a similar way to the Boys High School Rugby National Championships. The plan is to bring top middle-school rugby teams to on venue and play other strong teams.

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 it could be more if the demand is there. The games will be full-contact, 15-a-side Rugby Union.

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.