COLLEGIATE SEVENS CHAMPIONSHIPS OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED

Boulder, Colorado -- The USA Rugby Board of Directors has approved a proposal from the College Management Council for a new Collegiate Sevens National Championship for Men's and Women's Teams that will debut in December, 2011.

The USA Rugby Collegiate Rugby Sevens National Championships will be held on the 16th and 17th of December, 2011, at a site that is yet to be determined.  The Championships will consist of 24 Collegiate Men's Teams and 16 Collegiate Women's Teams.

More than 125 Collegiate Men's Teams will be competing in Qualifier Tournaments leading to the Championship.  Those Tournaments, listed below, will be a mixture of USA Rugby Collegiate Division I Conference Championships and Collegiate Regional Venues that include Division I and College Premier Division programs.

The winners of each Qualifier Tournament will earn an automatic berth in the Collegiate Men's Championship Tournament.  The remainder of the field will be selected on an 'at large' basis by a 'to be seated' Sevens Championship Selection Committee.  Criteria for selection will include performance in a Qualifier Tournament.

For 2011, the Collegiate Women's Sevens Championship will be a 16 Team Open Invitational Tournament.  Collegiate Women's Teams will be invited to submit an application to participate in the Venue, and the Women's Competition Committee will select the final 16 from the pool of applicants.

For further Information contact:

Jarrod Beckstrom, 303-539-0300 x 124  |  USA Rugby Communications Manager  |  USA Rugby

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About USA Rugby . . .

Founded in 1975, USA Rugby is an official member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International Rugby Board (iRB).

The organization has approximately 90,000 members and is responsible for the development of the Boys, Girls, High School, Collegiate and Club Rugby programs, and ultimately all of the National Teams representing the U.S. in International competitions.
 

The current structure of USA Rugby comprises seven Territorial Unions (TU) and 34 Local Area Unions (LAU) that compete for Regional and National Championships.
 

USA Rugby's National Headquarters is located in Boulder, CO, and is run by fulltime Staff under the direction of current CEO and President of Rugby Operations Nigel Melville.