All eyes turn to Ohio this weekend as the National Youth 7s Championships kick off at Walsh University.

The tournament is Friday and Saturday at Walsh's fields in North Canton, Ohio, with a new U18 bracket added on to the U16 and U14. 

The there are three brackets this year, all boys, as the girls' level of interest has, in the last couple of years, waned. The demand for the boys brackets has, conversely, waxed and it's interesting to note that it's the U14 bracket that's the largest.

Here's how it will shake out:

U14s

Pool A: Panther Rugby Academy, Assasins Academy, Bethesda, NC All Stars Gray, Highland
Pool B: Bremer Co., Badger Selects, Wasatch, NC All Stars White, Westpark

Assassins Academy is a relatively new program out of North Carolina, meaning we've got three teams from that state. There's a strong Midwest presence with Highland and Westpark both out of Ohio, and Badger Selected out of Wisconsin and Bremer County out of Iowa. Bethesda has had a very strong youth program for a long time, and while they have a robust high school team, many of their youth rugby graduates go on to single-school teams in the Maryland-DC area. So their influence is pretty wide-ranging.

With Wasatch out of Utah and Panther from the South overall, this bracket is spread out geographically.

Panther Rugby Academy may well be one of the favorites in this division as they have a strong pipeline and development process, but there's also something to be said for teams that spend a lot of time together.

U16s

Pool A: Loudoun County, Badger Selects, Iowa Selects, CRA Barbarians
Pool B: Panther Rugby Academy, Gorilla, Bethesda, San Diego

In the above section we didn't mention the defending champions because that was Loudoun County, and the Virginia youth program brings those kids into the U16s this time around. They will be very good in part because they play well together. Panther Rugby Academy won the U16 bracket in 2024 and return with a slightly different lineup.

This bracket should be wide open, with eight teams from more than eight states (PRA draws from more than one state). Keep an eye on San Diego. But there seems to be no easy games here.