WEST CHESTER, PA  19 January 2018 – This weekend eight All-Star 7’s teams will meet at Eckerd College in St Petersburg, FL to compete in the inaugural National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) Women's 7's Select Side Championships.

Bryn Chivers, NSCRO Commissioner of Women’s Rugby, has been the driving force behind this new championship and he summed up the event as, “creating a National Championship for an unknown number of conferences who didn't have All-Star 7’s teams, or even a reason to start one”. 

With none of the NSCRO conferences having existing 7’s All-Star programs, it was on the shoulders of a forward-thinking group of coaches and administrators to build programs from scratch. The eight teams competing are: Allegheny Rugby Union, LoneStar Conference, Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference, New England RFU, Ohio Valley WCRC, Prairie States WCRC, South Independents, and Upstate New York CRC.

On Saturday night, all of the teams will get together for a BBQ social and a t-shirt swap on the beach at Eckerd.

“We really want this event to be fun, like a throwback event, from twenty years ago when we made our own schedules, played recreational rugby, went to a post tournament social, made friends with players from another part of the country, and before everyone got caught up only playing the same teams in their conference season after season,” said Chivers. 

One of the primary goals of this Select Side Championship is to give teams and players who may not have not been successful in our National 15s and 7s Championships another pathway to be viewed and considered for the NSCRO/Penn Mutual Select Side team.

The NSCRO/Penn Mutual Select Side team will be returning to the Las Vegas Invitational (LVI) 7s Tournament on 01-03 March 2018 as well as the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRCs) in Philadelphia, PA on 01-03 June 2018.  

The games will be live-streamed (without commentary) on our YouTube channel and our website. Schedule and links to the live-stream:

Saturday, January 20 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnKOZYh-cJo

11:00 AM    Upstate NY (A) vs. LoneStar (A)
11:20 AM    MARC (A) vs. NERFU (A)
11:40 AM    South (B) vs. Allegheny (B)
12:00 PM    Prairie States (B) vs. Ohio (B)
1:00 PM    Upstate NY (A) vs. NERFU (A)
1:20 PM    MARC(A) vs. LoneStar (A)
1:40 PM    South (B) vs. Ohio (B)
2:00 PM    Prairie States (B) vs. Allegheny (B)
3:00 PM    Upstate NY (A) vs. MARC (A)
3:20 PM    NERFU (A) vs. LoneStar (A)
3:40 PM    Ohio (B) vs. Allegheny (B)
4:00 PM    Prairie States (B) vs. South (B)
All times listed are EST.

Sunday, 21 January
Day 2 coverage will begin at 10 AM EST. Full schedule will be posted after the results ofSaturday's Pool Play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWyHLDUgd2I

For information about the Women's Select Side program or to recommend a player, please contact Bryn Chivers via email or cell (773-308-4540).