Elite City Sevens tryouts searching for nation's best
BOULDER, Colo. – Twelve all-star sevens teams are currently holding tryouts for the inaugural Elite City Sevens competition, to be held at Houston Sports Park June 6-7.
Teams in cities like Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., have already seen many of the top players in their respective regions attend trials, while more are on the horizon beginning Wednesday, April 23.
“There have been higher attendance numbers than expected with the short runway, which is good to see,” USA Rugby National Development Director Alex Magleby said. “That should continue with the other cities in the coming weeks as collegiate and club spring rugby winds down.”
The 12 teams competing for the Elite City Sevens trophy and a berth in the second-annual World Club 7s at Twickenham Stadium are based out of Boston, Mass.; Chicago, Ill.; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colo.; Houston, Texas; Philadelphia, Pa.; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Diego, Calif.; San Francisco, Calif.; Seattle, Wash.; and Washington, D.C.
For the long-term, Magleby and the USA Rugby High Performance staff are searching for future Eagles ahead of Rugby Sevens’ inclusion on the Olympic Program at Rio 2016.
"There will be 144 guys who have an opportunity they perhaps didn’t have in the past to prove to the national coach that they are one of the best players in the U.S."
Houston’s tryout in Austin Wednesday follows on the successes of the first tryout in Houston Sunday, April 20. The other Texas team, Dallas, has tryouts scheduled in Dallas and Kansas City May 10 and 11, respectively, before a final selections camp May 24-25.
See the full list of camp dates below:
Team | Tryout/Camp | Location | Date | Contact |
---|---|---|---|---|
Boston | Tryout | New York City - Columbia University | May 10 | Sean Horan |
Boston | Tryout | Malden, Mass. - Pine Banks Park | May 11 | Sean Horan |
Chicago | Tryout | Chicago | April 23 | Aaron Manheimer |
Columbus | Tryout | Columbus | April 27 | Paul Holmes |
Dallas | Tryout | Dallas | May 10 | Greg Jarvis |
Dallas | Tryout | Kansas City | May 11 | Greg Jarvis |
Dallas | Selections Camp | Dallas | May 24-25 | Greg Jarvis |
Denver | Tryout | Denver - Cook Park | April 27 | Howard Kent |
Denver | Tryout | Denver - Cook Park | May 10 | Howard Kent |
Denver | Tournament | Albuquerque, N.M. - Rio Grande Celtic 7s | May 17 | Howard Kent |
Denver | Testing/Training | Denver - Cook Park | May 31 | Howard Kent |
Houston | Tryout | Austin | April 23 | Ty Landry |
San Francisco | Tryout | San Francisco - Ray Sheeran Field | May 6 | John Tyler |
San Francisco | Tryout | San Francisco - Ray Sheeran Field | May 8 | John Tyler |
See below for contact information for the other teams.
Team | Contact |
---|---|
Philadelphia | Chris Ryan |
Salt Lake City | Mark Drown |
San Diego | Ritchie Walker |
Seattle | Justin Fitzpatrick |