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The USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships is an annual competition among the top college rugby teams in the country to decide a national champion in rugby sevens. USA Rugby organized the championship to capitalize on the surge in popularity of rugby sevens following the 2009 announcement of the addition of rugby to the Summer Olympics. USA Rugby recognized that rugby sevens is growing in popularity, participation and interest. This tournament is a major contributor to the selection process for USA Rugby Olympic athletes.〔Rugby Mag, College 7s Back at Texas A&M, Sep. 5, 2012, http://www.rugbymag.com/news/colleges/collegiate-sevens/5686-college-7s-back-at-texas-aam.html〕 College rugby continues to grow in popularity, and rugby is one of the fastest growing sports across college campuses.〔Forbes, Why Pro Rugby Could Win In The United States, Feb. 25, 2011, http://www.forbes.com/sites/sportsmoney/2011/02/25/why-pro-rugby-could-win-in-the-united-states/〕 The 2009 announcement that rugby sevens would be added to the 2016 Olympic games has led to an increased emphasis in the collegiate ranks on the sevens game. ==History== USA Rugby announced in September 2011 the creation of a new sevens tournament.〔USA Rugby Press Release, Sep. 1, 2011, http://www.midwestrugby.org/usarugbynews09.01.11.htm〕 The launch by USA Rugby had a few hiccups. USA Rugby did not officially announce the December 16-17 2011 tournament and its dates until September 2011, and at that time USA Rugby had still not determined the location.〔USA Rugby Press Release, Sep. 1, 2011, http://www.midwestrugby.org/usarugbynews09.01.11.htm〕 Those mid-December dates were in the middle of exams for some schools. The ultimately chosen location, the College Station, Texas, was not announced until November.〔Rugby Mag, College 7s Championships Details Coming Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2011, http://www.rugbymag.com/news/colleges/collegiate-sevens/2611-college-7s-championships-details-coming-wednesday.html〕 College Station lacks direct flight to many major cities, and this problem was compounded by the decision to hold the tournament over a Friday and Saturday, requiring students to miss both a Thursday and Friday. For these reasons, many colleges that qualified or were invited to the tournament -- such as Penn State, UCLA, Utah, BYU, Boston College, Navy, LSU, Iowa, Dartmouth, Delaware, and Bowling Green -- declined to participate, nor did Cal participate.〔Rugby Mag, One Out, One in for College 7s Nats, Nov. 2, 2011, http://www.rugbymag.com/news/colleges/collegiate-sevens/2762-one-out-one-in-for-college-7s-nats.html〕〔Rugby Mag, Razorbacks to 7s Nats, One Spot Left, Nov. 27, 2011, http://www.rugbymag.com/news/colleges/collegiate-sevens/2799-razorbacks-to-7s-nats-one-spot-left.html〕 The inaugural 2011 tournament was contested by 24 teams that qualified based on performance in qualifying tournaments throughout the fall of 2011. The 2011 tournament was won by Life University, defeating Central Washington 22-17 in overtime.〔Rugby In Texas, Order Of Finish For Collegiate 7s Championship, Dec. 20, 2011, http://rugbyintexas.com/?p=1264〕 Tim Stanfill of Central Washington was the tournament MVP, and Derek Patrick of Miami was the tournament's leading try scorer.〔Rugby Mag, 7s Nationals Men's All-Tourney Team, Dec. 18, 2011, http://rugbymag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2994:7s-nationals-mens-all-tourney-team&catid=73:collegiate-sevens&Itemid=91〕 The 2012 tournament was more organized, with only one team - UCLA - declining to participate in the tournament. The 2012 tournament also saw increased airtime, with the entire tournament available live via webstream and some of the knockout rounds broadcast on ESPN3.〔RugbyRugby, USA Rugby & ESPN3 Partner for College 7s Championships Coverage, Nov. 29, 2012, http://www.rugbyrugby.com/news/more_news/college_rugby/7007526/usa_rugby___espn3_partner_for_college_7s_championships_coverage〕 For the 2013 tournament, three teams -- Cal, BYU, and UCLA -- won bids but declined to participate.〔Rugby Mag, College 7s Nationals Fields Finalized, 12 November 2013, http://rugbymag.com/news/colleges/collegiate-sevens/9886-college-7s-nationals-fields-finalized.html〕 The 2015 tournament was held in May — unlike previous tournaments which had been held in December. The tournament took place in Denver over the weekend of May 23-24, less than one week before the 2015 Collegiate Rugby Championship in Philadelphia. Once again, several top teams did not play: BYU, California, Life University, and UCLA. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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