2018 USA Club 7s Nationals: Dallas Rugby & Belmont Shore

USA Rugby hosted automatic qualifiers for its Club 7s National Championship for the first time in its history. The Western Open pitted eight of the top programs in the western states against one another, and the Eastern Open did the same this past weekend. Dallas Rugby and Belmont Shore both qualified for Nationals winning the Eastern & Western Opens, respectively..

Treasure Island, the home of San Francisco Golden Gate and the USA Rugby Club 7s National Championships from 2008-2012, hosted the Western Open, while Northern Virginia hosted the Eastern Open at Morven Park, Leesburg, Virginia.

Dallas and Belmont Shore will join South Region Atlanta Old White in the Nationals with other regional qualifiers continuing. Five teams have qualified for Women’s Nationals: the Atlanta Harlequins, Phoenix, Scion Rugby Academy, NOVA, and the DC Furies. The 2018 USA Rugby Emirates Airline Men’s & Women’s Club 7s National Championship will take place at Columbia University Baker Athletics Complex in New York City on August 11-12.

The Baker Athletics Complex includes both the 3,500-seat Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium and the 17,00-seat Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium. Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium will be the primary venue for the Club 7s championship event and is located next to the Campbell Sports Center, named for Columbia University and Old Blue of New York’s Bill Campbell.

The 2018 Emirates Airline Club 7s event will include 32 men’s and women’s teams from the United States competing for the Emil Signes Cup.