U23 Women Tournament Kicks Off Friday in Boston Area
U23 Women Tournament Kicks Off Friday in Boston Area
USA Rugby and the New England Free Jacks are holding a women's U23 tournament icing off tomorrow, Friday, in Quincy, Mass.
This is a buildup toward, hopefully, the selection of a USA U23 team, but is notable for a few other reasons, too.
This brings back the old territorial all-star tournament format, and does so with 15s, which is important in developing high-level players, especially those who do not play in high-level divisions.
Both the USA 15s Head Coach Sione Fukofuka, and the USA 7s Head Coach, Emilie Bydwell, will be in attendance.
Because this is a U23 tournament, there are players who are with senior clubs in the competition. However, the vast majority of the players are collegiate players. What's notable, however, is that many of the players involved player for NCR colleges. So, instead of those players being left out of the programs, they have been brought in.
At the same time, players from CRAA and NIRA programs, as well as WER and women's clubs, are playing.
It's a fascinating combination, with some teams being made up of players from almost exclusively D2 college teams, and then others, such as the Independents out of New England, featuring a heavy NCAA Varsity (NIRA) influence.
Friday (Times EST)
TIER 2
11:15AM #1 Pacific Coast vs. #4 Central South
12:45PM #2 Pacific South vs. #3 Mid-Atlantic
TIER 1
2:15PM #1 Rocky Mountain vs. #4 New England
3:45PM #2 South vs. #3 Midwest
Day One action is live here: https://www.youtube.com/live/MZkOvQyuK6s
Day Two action, Sunday June 22, is live here: https://www.youtube.com/live/baoTVMqQhos
To see the rosters, give some traffic to The Rugby Breakdown, which did all the work to find them, here>>
