National collegiate rugby tournament to be hosted at Kennesaw State

outline of rugby ball -- shaped much like an American football with big stiches along the centerlineIcons8, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Kennesaw State University will host the inaugural R7 Collegiate Championships tournament for Olympic format rugby at KSU’s Fifth Third Bank Stadium on May 14-15.

Top men’s and women’s teams from around the U.S. will compete.

The website for the tournament states, “Sanctioned by USA Rugby and its Collegiate Council, the Rugby 7s Collegiate Championships is the official national championship tournament event for both men’s and women’s collegiate 7s. Rugby 7s Collegiate Championships will be broadcast live on NBC and CNBC, with additional coverage streamed on Peacock.”

The county’s announcement for the event describes what will happen the day of the event:

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There will be more than 100 matches over the two days, with 15,000 visitors expected. The tournament will follow the Olympic format with seven players per side and seven minutes per half, showcasing the high-scoring and fast-paced nature of the sport. Teams you’ll see there include Army, Penn State, the University of California and Cobb’s Life University. Some of the matches will be shown live on NBC, CNBC and Peacock.

There will also be a two-day fan festival celebrating all things rugby, with artisans, food, drinks and music.

For more information and for tickets, click here.

More on Rugby 7’s

The NR7’s website has the following description of this growing sport, recently added to the Olympics:

NR7’s Founders believe that Rugby 7’s is arguably the fastest and most exciting game in the world of sports, with the potential to dramatically expand its broadcast and media exposure while significantly growing its base of spectators and participants during the coming decade.

Rugby Sevens made its Olympic debut in Rio in 2016 as a demonstration sport and this past summer in Tokyo as a Gold Medal Men’s and Women’s sport. Rugby 7’s is now poised to receive unprecedented exposure on the world stage. NBC has previously provided major broadcast coverage of Rugby 7’s. This included International 7’s Tournaments, the U.S. Collegiate Rugby Championships (CRC), and the Tokyo Summer Games with significant coverage devoted to the 7’s competitions.

To see a clip from a top-performing player in an R7 rugby game, watch the video below:

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