The NSCRO 7's Championship match will be part of the NBC event coverage that will be aired on National television.
"The NSCRO is very excited to be working with USA Sevens LLC in holding the National Championship event in conjunction with the CRC 7s," said NSCRO President Stephen Cohen. "With the inclusion of 7s rugby in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, the promotion of 7s rugby for colleges is increasing throughout the country and NSCRO wants to give small colleges this opportunity previously only offered to the big name and division 1 schools."
The NSCRO 7's Championship is set to be an eight-team event. The tournament field will be determined by a series of eight regional qualifying tournaments. The eight teams participating in June will be split into two pools of four teams. The teams will then play a standard round-robin series of three games. The top two teams from each pool will then move on to play in the semifinals and championship.
The pool stage and consolation matches will be played on Saturday while the semifinals and championship game will be played on Sunday. Pool games are set to be played outside of the stadium, but the semifinals and championship will be played inside of PPL Park.
The NSCRO has appointed long-time Denver 7's President and Administrator, Howard Kent, to oversee the development of their 7's competition. Along with a 7's National Championship Committee, Kent has the ultimate goal of creating and administering the NSCRO's 7's National Playoffs.
Kent is joined in the effort by committee members Mark Hanrahan (Franciscan University), Todd Streeter (University of Wisconsin-Parkside), and Steve Hiatt (California Maritime).
Over 80 NSCRO teams have already expressed their interest in competing in the NSCRO 7's Playoffs. Administration is currently looking at various locations to hold the qualifying tournaments. Qualifying tournaments are expected to be held between April and early May 2013.
"NSCRO is very thrilled to provide an opportunity for men's small colleges to display their athletic prowess in the game of 7s rugby. Since 7s is such a different game than 15s, we feel this will open the opportunities for more and different colleges to advance into the national playoff spotlight," finished Cohen.
About the NSCRO
The National Small College Rugby Organization (pronounced “N”-SCRO) was co-founded by Steve Cohen and Chip Auscavitch in 2007 to organize the Division 3 and Division 4 college rugby national playoff system. These championships have become a vital part in developing collegiate rugby in the U.S. and are now known as Small College National Championships. The best small college rugby clubs are just that and to say that they are a Division 3 club does not fully recognize their level of play, commitment to the sport and accomplishments both on and off the pitch.
There are currently over 200 men's and nearly 80 women's teams participating in local Unions and Conferences with their eye on the prize of the NSCRO Small College National Championship. Clubs who want to participate in the NSCRO playoffs must be members in good standing of a local governing body in a league system, be recognized as a club sport in good standing by their college/university and members of USA Rugby.
Ted,
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean the NCSRO 7s and 15s will run parallel to each other in the Spring?
I'll ask the NSCRO about their stance on the separating 7's & 15's and post here when I get an answer. With the timing of the CRC and the NSCRO 15's Championship taking place in April, the two will play parallel at least for this year.
ReplyDeleteI guess in the end some sort of college season will evolve. However as it stands now it looks like there is going to remain a split season with some colleges playing 7s/15s in the Fall and some in the Spring.
ReplyDeleteI really wish something could be worked out so there could be a unified season across the country. I would like to see 7s in the Fall and 15s in the Spring, but another option is just run the 7s and 15s season along one another.
The year could start with the 7s season in January and end with the CRC in July and the 15s season could start in March and end in June. Both competitions could do there best to avoid schedule clashes.
I spoke with a rep from the NSCRO. As of right now they are taking a wait and see approach. As with other college divisions, the NSCRO has teams in conferences that play their seasons in the spring and fall. Right now, about 2/3 of their members play a fall 15's season.
ReplyDeleteUntil someone comes up with a plan that knocks everyone's socks off I don't see there being a set season for 7's or 15's at any level. Conferences will do what is in the best interest of their members.
Thanks for the information!
DeleteEveryone should play fall *and* spring. Fighting over which is better is stupid.
ReplyDeleteSchedule idea:
5-6 conference 15s matches in the Fall
1-2 7s tournaments in the Fall
5-6 conference 15s matches in the Spring
1-2 7s tournaments in the Spring
It's not hard. And don't whine to me about weather.
You clearly live outside of New England. We wont see grass for at least another 2 weeks with even more snow coming this weekend
Delete