What's Up with 7s This Summer?
What's Up with 7s This Summer?
Summer sees different approaches to 7s in high school rugby around the nation.
For some regions, they take a complete break. Others run a series of tournaments that are basically about just playing and having fun.
But you do see some more serious tournaments crop out as well.
In Washington they are working to run a touch league which is centered around development. In Maryland, there's a series of U7 through to U16 tournaments that finishes with a championship on July 30-31. But that, too is centered around development and growth.
Virginia sees teams playing during the summer with a July 23 state tournament to finish it all off. However, this coming Sunday there's a bit of a crossover tournament that leads into the Surfside 7s a week later.
This weekend sees Northern California's summer 7s series enter its fourth weekend. Most of the teams involved are using the summer to play and have fun and take it somewhat seriously. But some teams are looking ahead to the NAI 7s are using this series as a buildup. About 12 girls U18 teams are involved and about 10 boys teams at the U16 and U18 levels. There are also Boys U14 and coed teams younger than that.
The Amazons, Pleasanton, and Land Park are looking good in the girls brackets while the San Mateo Wolverines are looking to make a splash in Salt Lake City and have been building toward that.
And this weekend in Ohio there's the Rock and Roll 7s, which has a pretty robust HS bracket.
Feel Left Out, Schools?
Check out this information on the National School 7s in October. It's a great way for school teams to get a major tournament, and especially for schools looking to build their 15s efforts, but can't quite compete at the highest level in 15s yet. At 7s, you can field a smaller squad, and see where you stand.
On the Horizon
The NAI 7s July 22-23 is on the horizon. The biggest Youth/HS tournament in North America (at least), the NAI 7s has over 150 teams playing in in 12 brackets. (This includes the Men's and Women's U23 brackets, which are of course not youth level). The schedule is just about finalized and the tournament will include a fascinating clash of talent in the Boys U18 Elite, a Girls U18 bracket that brings players from really all over the US (Wisconsin, Idaho, California, Montana, the Northeast, Hawaii, Colorado, Utah, Texas, and the Mid-Atlantic, at the very least).
The Boys U16 bracket got divided into two tiers because it was so popular. There's be some surprise teams in there, and it'll be interesting to see F5 out of Oklahoma, and how that state's rugby can ride their experience to build numbers.
We'll have more on these teams and brackets later.
The LA 7s will have an invitational, and one thing to remember there is that the entire Invitational will be held at the Dignity Health Sports Park complex. Fans and players will have in-and-out privileges for the LA 7s tournament, so you can see someone play in the LAI, go see the LA 7s for a while, and go back out to the LAI for another game.
It's all part of the festival experience. Go here for LA 7s tickets>>
The LAI will have an expanded Beach Rugby experience, plus high school and youth brackets.
For info about the LA Invitational go here>>
