The USA Touch Rugby Nationals are set for mid-October and organizers are looking for college teams.

Last year, Lindenwood University and Spring Hill College participated in the event, and both will return this year.

The event, which will be held October 13-16 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex just outside of Orlando, Fla., doesn't have a college-only bracket yet, but OJ Hawea hopes it will.

Hawea plays in the event and also coaches the Red Mountain boys HS team, and he is also helping lead the movement to get more young teams playing touch rugby,

"I think it's really a great game and really beneficial for teaching skills," said Hawea. "We want a college bracket, but we'll need at least four teams for that. And we want to get to a point where we have a high school bracket, too."

"The players were very excited to participate in a National Championship event during the team's first year as an Independent program," said Spring Hill Coach Justin Goonan. "This competition showed a lot of upside in terms of skill development, conditioning and overall experience, in addition to serving as a mid-season break from the Fall matches that had already been scheduled." 

If you want to know more about touch rugby and having your college or high school team get involved, email OJ Hawea at OJ@usatouch.org