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The USA is not always thought of as a rugby nation but the states is the fastest growing rugby sevens market in the world and they have gone some way in showing this by announcing the introduction of women's sevens league.

In comparison to other nations especially in the Women's game this initiative is forward thinking and aims to continue the growth of the sport whilst making sure the USA Women's Sevens team are more than competitive at the next world cup and going forward hopefully the Olympics.

The city-based women’s sevens league is the first big action item for newly appointed USA Women’s Sevens coach Sue Parker, and it’s an ambitious one.

With the launch of a four-team tournament, prefaced by regional team practices, she’s optimistic about the program’s success and wants to quell any skepticism about its livelihood.

“When we announced the league, there was a lot of positive excitement from players, administrators and coaches,” Parker stated. “We won’t know the level of that excitement until tryouts (July 11-12), but I’m optimistic that we won’t have to close any teams down due to lack of interest.”

For now, Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC are guaranteed teams and coaching staff, but cities like Albany (NY), Columbia (SC), Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Denver all raised their hands to the initial call. Parker is playing it safe in the league’s inaugural year.

“It’s unlikely that we’ll have a West Coast league this year, at least not a formal one,” Parker said, “but I don’t want to discourage people from contacting us. If there’s a team or coach out there that wants to identify elite athletes, we’ll send them the coaching program.”

That’s the thing - Parker’s plan isn’t to simultaneously support recreational club sevens by disseminating her coaching program that’s designed to identify top athletes.

“There’s a difference,” Parker said. “The goal is to form a deep, athletic national player pool. If a current club team is willing to engage in that exercise and they have that level of athlete, we wouldn’t discourage them from contacting us. But we’re not here to support the recreational league; it’s not our design.”

With the successful launch of the program, there’s the potential for a variety of different athletes converging in the same venue – in particular, national pool players continuing their development, cross-over athletes, 15s players trying 7s, etc. – and that’s where the second prong of Parker’s initiative becomes imperative. Parker wants to align the country’s coaching strategies to make better use of the national team assemblies and camps.

“Usually, each coach teaches sevens however he or she wants and then we spend a lot of time at national camps reiterating the basics and getting everyone on the same page,” Parker explained. “Through the city-based league, all the coaches are provided a teaching curriculum they must follow, so when we hold the city-based tournament, the players’ skill will be high. And then when we host a national camp, they’ll come with the level of skill and tactical awareness we’re expecting.

The league kicks off with tryouts July 11-12 in each respective city, followed by at least one practice from July 14-16, camp on July 19, at least one practice from July 21-22, and then the city-based league tournament at Friendship Field in Philadelphia. Players must sign up through the website, www.citybased7s.com, to participate.