Utah 7s Series Kicks Off

Salt Lake City, Utah - The combined Rugby Utah & Utah Youth Rugby Fall 7s Series kicks off this Saturday in Clearfield, Utah.

The four-leg Fall 7s Series combines both the men's division with the high school boys and girls divisions and will crown a state champion for the respective divisions.

Joining the kick-off for the series is Rugby Utah partner and ATAVUS ambassador Waisale Serevi, one of the world's rugby legends who will be on hand to promote the October 23rd Rugby Utah/ATAVUS 1Team Camp.

Serevi will also be joined by former USA Eagle Shawn Pittman, as both not only look to promote the 1Team Camp but also work with all the Utah Youth Rugby players and coaches.

"We're very excited to kick-off this series," said Rugby Utah director Kimball Kjar, "The pathway for our growing rugby community needs more unified events like this and we hope this series creates connections and ties between the men's division and our high school players."

The Utah Youth Rugby High School Divisions will feature nationally ranked teams such as Herriman HS, United Rugby Club, Lady Orem Stallions and Idaho State Champions Portneuf Valley All High School Rugby. Twenty high school teams will compete in three divisions.

“The inclusion of the men’s division in the tournament is an exciting step towards showing players a pathway to play at the senior levels in rugby post high school,” said Owen Power, President of Utah Youth Rugby.

The Rugby Utah men's division sees the reformation of one of Utah's historically most successful men's clubs in the form of United. The club, most recently known for its success at the high school levels, began as a men's club that boasted some of the top talent in Utah during the 1980's.

Former United player and current United High School men's coach Colin Puriri has led the reorganization of the United men's team.

Joining United in this premier series are Utah standout clubs Park City Haggis and Humless 7s. Both teams have been and continue to field top level players from throughout the state.

The fourth and final men's team is Mana Rugby Club, one of the local rugby community's standout clubs in 15's and 7s rugby.

Kjar admitted the small pool of teams was both a logistical and strategic necessity.

"We had to address the ability to play all of the games in one day in partnering with Utah Youth Rugby," he said, "And regrettably we weren't able to afford all interested clubs here in Utah the opportunity to participate in this inaugural series. The good news is that this is just the beginning and there will be more opportunities as Rugby Utah builds and grows our programming."

Leg 1 of the Fall 7s Series kicks off Saturday, September 19th with the high school pools starting at 8.30am at Bernard Fisher Park in Clearfield, UT and the men's division competition slated to start at 1.20pm. The tournament championships will kick off at 15.40pm

The full schedule for this weekend's games is below. All games on Field 1 will be streamed live on www.sfan.tv.