LA 7s Satellite Tournament, End of Summer Bash, Filling Up

08.04.2022

It’s called the End of Summer 7s Bash, and it isn’t the LA Invitational, but it has a lot of similarities.

The Bash is the tournament around the tournament, the way to play when you go see the LA Sevens at Dignity Health Sports Park.

And despite the fact that this year’s LA 7s is in August, teams are signing up in large numbers.

Men’s and Women’s Elite

The higher end of the competition spectrum is seeing some well-regarded teams sign up. The California Grizzlies, Stars, Upright Rugby out of Canada, Roots Rugby, which has done so well in the NY 7s, and the Cayman Islands national team are all expected to play in the men’s competition.

Among the women, Stars is there again, along with Roots, but we also see longtime power Scion, the Lady Harpooners out of Florida, the Berkeley All Blues, and select teams out of the Carolinas and New Hampshire.

It’s an intriguing group as the timing of the End of Summer Bash is basically when the old territorial 7s championships used to be. So, yes, there are high-level 7s players looking for that last summer challenge.

Youth

At the other end of the spectrum, the youth entrants are flooding in, too. According to Tournament Director Howard Kent, who is a past master at all of this stuff, the U10s and U12s, mostly out of Southern California, have embraced the End of Summer Bash.

Why? Well there are several factors. The decision to hold the Bash at the Dig’s sports complex Saturday and Sunday is a big part of it. The fields are well-maintained and it’s easy to navigate. With the discounted ticket packages for teams, and in-and-out privileges, kids can play, go into the stadium to watch the World Series action, and then go back out to play another game.

Their fans and families can do the same thing.

“It’s going to be an enclosed environment where it’s easier than ever to get in and out of the stadium and still be part of the End of Summer Bash on the other fields,” said Kent. “We were able to make that work with Stadium operations and I think we’ll be building on that.”

More Brackets

Men’s and Women’s teams that didn’t get an invitation to the Club 7s Championships are looking at the Bash as a chance to end their season in style. Meanwhile the U18 and U16 brackets are starting to fill up, with a heavy Canadian interest.

Overall, 60 teams are already signed up for a classic example of how rugby fans are also rugby players.