2019 Club 7s Handbook: Qualifying Tournaments
8.1. Qualifying Tournament Enrollment
All qualifying tournaments must complete the 2019 Club 7s Qualifying Tournament Enrollment Form, and be approved by the 7s Working Group (or its designee). Qualifying tournaments should also be endorsed by the Competitive Region (CR) Committee from which they originate. There is no fee to enroll a qualifying tournament.
2019 Club 7s Qualifying Tournament Enrollment Form
8.2. Schedules
All qualifying tournaments should make a best endeavor to follow the approved scheduling formats linked in the Appendix of the Club 7s Handbook.
Schedules should:
8.3. Venue Set-Up
Venues used for Club 7s qualifiers (Qualifying Tournaments) must meet minimum standards for field set-up. These standards include:
Venues should also have:
8.4. Check-In
All qualifying tournaments must follow the same check-in procedure. As teams check in, they should be expected to:
A best practice for check-in is to have the team manager first turn in any mandatory event forms, and then to have players individually check-in with their documents in hand – in the order they appear on the Roster turned in for the event.
8.5. Player Welfare
All approved tournaments are required to have medical personnel (ATCs, first responders, etc.) on-site for participating teams during all matches. Events must also define an Emergency Action Plan, to be made available to all participants: https://assets.usarugby.org/docs/medical/emergency_action_plan.pdf
All tournament organizers should be aware of the World Rugby and USA Rugby Player Welfare standards, and attempt to adhere to them to the best of their ability at all times. These policies include standards for heat, surface, etc., and will be made available to tournament organizers in the Tournament Registration process.
All qualifying tournaments must complete the 2019 Club 7s Qualifying Tournament Enrollment Form, and be approved by the 7s Working Group (or its designee). Qualifying tournaments should also be endorsed by the Competitive Region (CR) Committee from which they originate. There is no fee to enroll a qualifying tournament.
2019 Club 7s Qualifying Tournament Enrollment Form
8.2. Schedules
All qualifying tournaments should make a best endeavor to follow the approved scheduling formats linked in the Appendix of the Club 7s Handbook.
Schedules should:
- consider player welfare standards for rest and participation
- provide competitive balance, when available (e.g. giving teams roughly equal rest times between matches)
- not include more than 5 matches per team in a single day, or 7 matches per team in a single weekend
- not include more than 10 matches per team on consecutive weekends
8.3. Venue Set-Up
Venues used for Club 7s qualifiers (Qualifying Tournaments) must meet minimum standards for field set-up. These standards include:
- a grass playing surface, or Regulation 22 artificial turf
- field width of no less than 63m from touchline to touchline
- field length of no less than 90m from goalposts to goalposts
- try zones of no less than 8m each
- proper enforcement of the USA Rugby Technical Zone Guidelines
Venues should also have:
- an appropriate tent area for match officials
- a clearly defined area for event administration
- a space for an athlete village, even if teams must provide their own tents
- food/beverage options for athletes and spectators
8.4. Check-In
All qualifying tournaments must follow the same check-in procedure. As teams check in, they should be expected to:
- Turn in individual waivers of liability, held by the host
- Turn in any media waiver, as appropriate (each event may decide how their media rights work; this is mandatory at Nationals)
- Submit a full Roster for the weekend of 12 players (and an optional traveling reserve 13th player for injury)
- Present individual player identity/citizenship documentation
A best practice for check-in is to have the team manager first turn in any mandatory event forms, and then to have players individually check-in with their documents in hand – in the order they appear on the Roster turned in for the event.
8.5. Player Welfare
All approved tournaments are required to have medical personnel (ATCs, first responders, etc.) on-site for participating teams during all matches. Events must also define an Emergency Action Plan, to be made available to all participants: https://assets.usarugby.org/docs/medical/emergency_action_plan.pdf
All tournament organizers should be aware of the World Rugby and USA Rugby Player Welfare standards, and attempt to adhere to them to the best of their ability at all times. These policies include standards for heat, surface, etc., and will be made available to tournament organizers in the Tournament Registration process.
