• • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • Technorati
  • Reddit
  • Stumble Upon
  • Furl

Dallen Stanford; former International Sevens star from the USA, gives UR7s a weekly update on Sevens in states, reporting on tournament, teams, players and the state of the game in America.

Rugby – especially 7s – is becoming vastly popular in the USA. Here is how the domestic season works:

The months of June & July in America are reserved for club 7s with the top 16 teams competing in the National Championships in August. This year the 2009 National Club Sevens tournament will take place in San Francisco on August 15/16. The United States is a rather large country, with certain rules applying to certain states, and this also applies to 7s. Each region has a different qualifying process. Some nominate certain 7s tournaments as being a qualifier and the winner automatically gains entry to the Nationals, whilst others have a series of tournaments with the top placed teams going through.

As mentioned in my first blog for UR7s there is also another exciting 7s competition in America this year, with four more qualifiers taking place across the country, culminating at the 2010 San Diego IRB 7s tournament.

Back to this weekend’s roundup, plus past results from this month, divided into the qualifying regions:

Midwest

June 6 - Moose 7s: Won by Chicago Lions.

June 13 - Minnesota 7s: Milwaukee beat YoungBloodz 41-7.

June 20 - Taz 7s (Iowa Falls): Kansas City Blues beat YoungBloodz 21-12.

June 20 - Firehouse 7s: Milwaukee beat the Chicago Lions 49-14.

June 27 - Lakefront 7s (Wisconsin): Milwaukee won their 3rd tournament by beating the Chicago Lions 28-7 this past weekend. Milwaukee should do well at Nationals.

July 11 - Rock n’ Roll 7s (Ohio)

July 18 - Rock Hard 7s (Michigan)

July 25 – Midwest 7s Qualifier (Elkhart): Top 3 seeds qualify for Nationals.

West

June 27 - Dallas Harlequins 7s (Texas): The Denver Barbarians played excellent rugby to beat Aspen 15-7 in the final of the first West Sevens Qualifier.?

July 11 - Denver Barbarian 7s (Colorado)

July 25 - KC Blues 7s (Kansas): Top 3 seeds head to Nationals.

Northeast

June 27 - Springfield 7s (Massachusetts): The first qualifier in this region was taken by NYAC (New York Athletic Club) who beat Boston 22-14 in an exciting final. If NYAC retain some of their Super League players from the 15s season, they should pose a threat at the National tournament.

July 11 - Midnight 7s (New York)

July 18 - Princeton 7s (New Jersey)

July 25 - Newport (Rhode Island): The top 2 seeds in this Championship tournament advance to Nationals.

Mid-Atlantic

June 20 - NOVA Battlefield 7s (Virginia): Schuylkill River managed to comeback and defeat NOVA 28-5 thanks to a huge defensive display.

June 27 - PAC 7s (Maryland): Old Blue made a welcome return beating Schuylkill River 19-10 in a very tight final. USA 7s player Troy Hall and Welsh international James Strong are back for Old Blue.

July 11 - Norfolk 7s (Virginia)

July 18 - Rocky Gorge 7s (Maryland)

July 25 – Mid-Atlantic 7s (Virginia) Top 2 seeds to Nationals.

South

July 18 - Columbus 7s (Georgia): Top 2 seeds qualify for Nationals.

Pacific Coast

August 1 - Flagstaff 7s (Arizona): Top 2 seeds to Nationals.

Southern California

June 20 - Las Vegas 7s (Nevada): Belmont Shore beat OMBAC 50-5.

June 27 - Oasis 7s (San Diego): Belmont Shore – fielding a second side – beat OMBAC 21-19 in a thrilling final.

July 11 - Belmont Shore 7s (Long Beach): Winner of this tournament joins Belmont Shore at Nationals.

www.pakiscorner.com