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ACI Heads List of Fall College 7s Events, Rugby - RugbyMag.com

Press Releases

Winner of Atlantic Coast Invitational Will Advance to USA Rugby Men's Collegiate Sevens Championship

GREENSBORO, NC (August 29, 2011) -  The fourth annual Atlantic Coast Invitational, presented by USA Sevens LLC, will take place in Greensboro, N.C. at Macpherson Stadium on September 17-18, 2011.  The tournament will feature the men’s rugby teams from Clemson University, Duke University, Florida State University, Georgia Tech, University of Maryland, University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, Virginia Tech, University of Virginia and Wake Forest University. This year the ACI champion will receive an automatic invitation to the first ever USA Rugby men’s collegiate rugby sevens national championship and other ACI teams will be eligible for at-large bids to the USA Rugby sevens championship.

The USA Rugby men’s collegiate sevens competition will consist of approximately twelve qualifying tournaments, among men’s College Premier Division and Division 1 teams, culminating in a 24-team championship tournament on December 16-17 at a location soon to be announced.  Champions of the qualifying tournaments will receive an automatic bid to the December event.  The remaining bids will be selected at large by a national selection committee. 

 

More information on the Atlantic Coast Invitational can be found at www.acirugby.com.  The Atlantic Coast Invitational is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Atlantic Coast Conference.

USA Sevens Partners with the Atlantic Coast Rugby League and the ACI 7's Tournament

GREENSBORO, NC (September 9, 2010) -  USA Sevens and the Atlantic Coast Rugby League are pleased to announce a long-term partnership specifically centered around the Atlantic Coast Invitational Rugby Sevens Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. September 11-12, 2010.  The partnership aims to build the value of 7’s rugby by leveraging traditional collegiate sports conferences to increase legitimacy and support for the sport. 

USA Sevens’ partnership with the Atlantic Coast Rugby League and potential partnerships with other conferences will continue to strengthen 7’s rugby as a viable collegiate sports asset.  “The pathway that the Atlantic Coast Rugby League is taking in staging the inaugural Atlantic Coast Invitational Rugby 7’s Tournament is exactly on par with the goals of USA Sevens - traditional conferences, universities and rivalries have appeal to sports fans, media and sponsors across the board, and we are excited to be partnering with them,” said USA Sevens Tournament Director, Dan Lyle.

“The Atlantic Coast Rugby League is thrilled to be partnering with USA Sevens around the Atlantic Coast Invitational.  USA Sevens has demonstrated that they fully understand the importance of college rugby to the overall growth of the game in this country and they've also shown, with the College Championship Invitational, that they can stage fantastic collegiate rugby events.  With the City of Greensboro fully supporting our event and USA Sevens now on board, the future of the Atlantic Coast Invitational Rugby Sevens Tournament is very bright," said Patrick Kane, 2010 Atlantic Coast Invitational Tournament Co-Director.

Rugby Sevens features seven players per team playing on the same size field as a 15’s match and offers non-stop action in which speed, high scoring and athleticism rule the day.  In 2016, Rugby Sevens will be an Olympic sport and athletes currently playing rugby at the collegiate level will be part of the talent pool available for the U.S. Olympic team.

About USA Sevens:

USA Sevens owns and operates America’s premier rugby event, the USA Sevens Rugby Tournament.  Held annually, the event is one of the eight international stops in the IRB Sevens World Series. With an attendance of over 50,000 during the two day event, it is the largest annual rugby event in North America and one of the fastest growing rugby events in the world.  Additionally, USA Sevens, in partnership with NBC Sports, runs the National Collegiate Rugby 7’s Invitational Tournament held annually the first weekend in June.  For more information, visit www.usasevens.com.



Largest Regional Collegiate Rugby Sevens Tournament in the Country Kicks Off in “Tournament Town” September 11-12, 2010

GREENSBORO, NC (September 2, 2010) – Ten college men’s rugby teams will face up in Greensboro on September 11 & 12 to compete for the third annual Atlantic Coast Invitational (ACI) collegiate rugby championship title. This year’s tournament, which brings together men’s teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) universities, will adopt the rugby sevens format in which seven players for each side -- rather than 15 -- take the field for shorter matches.

“This change was a strategic decision for the tournament since rugby sevens is now recognized as an Olympic sport and will make its debut in the 2016 Summer Olympics,” commented Pat Kane, Director of Men’s Rugby at Wake Forest University and tournament co-founder. “Seven-a-side by our 10 competing teams will provide an action-packed weekend of 33 matches. Ten-minute halves will also be easier for new fans to learn the rules and follow the plays.”

Teams scheduled to compete will represent the following universities:
  • Clemson University
  • Duke University
  • Florida State University
  • Georgia Tech
  • N.C. State University
  • University of Maryland
  • University of North Carolina
  • University of Virginia
  • Virginia Tech
  • Wake Forest University

“Because college rugby is a club sport rather than a varsity sport, many people fail to recognize just how dedicated these players are to their teams and to the sport,” commented Andy Richards, head coach of men’s rugby at Virginia Tech and tournament co-founder. “These student-athletes train for hundreds of hours and travel thousands of miles to compete. The ACI tournament and supporting Atlantic Coast Rugby League provide an organized structure and a pathway to national competition very much like varsity athletics.”

Next weekend’s tournament will be take place at Macpherson Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina. Admission will be $10 for adults, $5 for students, and free for children under age 12. Events begin at 10:00 am both days. The full tournament schedule and directions are posted on the tournament website: http://www.acirugby.com.

Kim Strable, president of the Greensboro Sports Commission, commented: “We are excited to bring a new and developing event to Greensboro which will allow our city to be exposed to one of the newest Olympic sports and to showcase Macpherson Stadium as not only a soccer stadium but a premier multiple sport venue in Greensboro.”

The ACI it is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

University Men's Rugby Clubs Form New Atlantic Coast Rugby League

March 17, 2010 – Nine out of 12 men’s rugby teams from universities in the Atlantic Coast Conference will form a new league – The Atlantic Coast Rugby League – commencing with the spring 2011 season. For most teams, this change will mean fewer miles traveled during the season, but all teams will benefit from more competitive match-ups with traditional rivals.

The idea for this league is not new, according to Andy Richards. Richards and colleague Pat Kane co-founded the Atlantic Coast Invitational Tournament in 2008 for the same teams. 

“We’ve been working on this new structure for some time. Each team had to decide what was best for them. Having nine of the 12 teams committed is a very exciting prospect,” Richards said. 

The rugby teams who will join the Atlantic Coast Rugby League will represent the following universities: 

  • Clemson University
  • Duke University
  • Georgia Institute of Technology
  • N.C. State University
  • University of Maryland
  • University of North Carolina
  • University of Virginia
  • Virginia Tech
  • Wake Forest University

The major driving force behind the formation of this league is the prospect of a new collegiate premier league for top teams looming large on the horizon. “I think the collegiate premier league is a great thing, not just for the teams who are in it, but it also represents a chance for collegiate teams from schools within traditionally high-profile conferences like ours to capitalize on that recognized affiliation and build our programs both on and off the field by combining into new competitive leagues,” according to Kane. 

“This is not a breakaway league. Teams will remain with their Local and Territorial Unions and USA Rugby, continuing to be full members. We are merely changing the competitive league in which we play,” continued Kane.  “The Ivy League took this big step last year and we are following in their footsteps.” 

A major difference for participating teams is moving to a spring league schedule with all games held in March and April. This season change will not allow teams the opportunity to advance the Territorial Union and USA Rugby playoffs as they are currently structured.  But Kane explained that such a situation is not unique in college athletics.  For example, the Ivy League does not send its football champion to the NCAA FCS playoffs.  The tradeoff of not being able to compete for a national championship is that student-athletes in this league get to play their traditional rivals, compete for an ACRL championship, and do all of it in March and April. 

While most teams understand that there is no pathway to a national championship in the short term, it is hoped that in the future, as the competitiveness of the league gets better, there may come the time that there is a pathway for the ACRL champion to re-enter the national rugby scene with promotion and relegation being a possible feature of the new premier league. 

The Virginia Tech Rugby Club has announced it will withdraw from the Marfu Premier league this fall. Club president Cory McGillivray said, “The team feels its best interests lie with the Atlantic Coast Rugby League. Now a spring league allows us to pick and choose our fall schedule. Football is king in the fall in Blacksburg; trying to manage a competitive league around it has always been a problem for us. This way, we can now work with it instead of against it.” 

The Atlantic Coast Invitational Tournament will move to the fall, scheduled for September 11-12, 2010 in North Carolina. The tournament will also move to a Rugby Sevens format. Richards cited the selection of Rugby Sevens as a new Olympic sport as a major reason for the change in addition to the new league spring schedule.