2019 Club 7s Handbook: Changes for 2019 (Section 2)
Starting in 2018 and continuing in 2019, the following structures have been instituted for the USA Rugby Club 7s National Championship:
Player Eligibility: Teams will be able to carry rosters comprised of 9 U.S. citizens and a maximum of 3 or 4 * legally-residing non-citizens at Club 7s qualifiers and the USA Rugby Club 7s National Championship. This change is to simplify individual player eligibility. * Each Roster may include a maximum of three (3) players who are not U.S. citizens or four (4) provided that one of these players is a Green Card holder.
Roster Size: At events with approved tournament doctors, teams may also carry a 13th 'traveling reserve player.' Traveling reserves may only participate if one of the 12 rostered participants is ruled medically unable to compete for the remainder of the event by the approved tournament doctor.
Seeding Allotment: All competitive regions (CRs) will be guaranteed at least one seed per division at the championship event. In the men's competition, six additional seeds will be granted through a weighing of competitive performance over the last three years, plus two seeds granted through the new 'open' competitions. No CR may have more than three seeds.
Changes to the women's competition are currently under review. Both the men's & women's championship events will continue to have 16 teams each.
Men's Open Qualifiers: Two men's tournaments will take place in 2019, with the winner of each automatically qualified for the USA Rugby Club 7s National Championship.
If the winner comes from a region with the maximum number of seeds allowed (3), the winning team will automatically receive a bid to Nationals but its region will not gain an additional seed. Should that occur, the runner-up team will earn an additional seed for its region but must earn qualification through its qualifier series (i.e. the runner-up can *not* gain automatic entry via the Open system).
Competitive Region Qualifiers: All competitive regions must play at least two - but no more than four - qualifying tournaments to competitively seed its teams for the USA Rugby Club 7s National Championship. Regions that intend to use championship tournaments must count their tournaments as part of that total (2-4), and regions with split qualifiers must count each tournament as a single qualifier event. Additional tournaments may be played by 7s participating teams but cannot count towards qualification to Nationals.
Certification of Events: All qualifying events must be certified by the 7s working group. Certified events will be expected to follow minimum event performance standards, and all certified events will appears on usaclub7s.com.
Player Eligibility: Teams will be able to carry rosters comprised of 9 U.S. citizens and a maximum of 3 or 4 * legally-residing non-citizens at Club 7s qualifiers and the USA Rugby Club 7s National Championship. This change is to simplify individual player eligibility. * Each Roster may include a maximum of three (3) players who are not U.S. citizens or four (4) provided that one of these players is a Green Card holder.
Roster Size: At events with approved tournament doctors, teams may also carry a 13th 'traveling reserve player.' Traveling reserves may only participate if one of the 12 rostered participants is ruled medically unable to compete for the remainder of the event by the approved tournament doctor.
Seeding Allotment: All competitive regions (CRs) will be guaranteed at least one seed per division at the championship event. In the men's competition, six additional seeds will be granted through a weighing of competitive performance over the last three years, plus two seeds granted through the new 'open' competitions. No CR may have more than three seeds.
Changes to the women's competition are currently under review. Both the men's & women's championship events will continue to have 16 teams each.
Men's Open Qualifiers: Two men's tournaments will take place in 2019, with the winner of each automatically qualified for the USA Rugby Club 7s National Championship.
If the winner comes from a region with the maximum number of seeds allowed (3), the winning team will automatically receive a bid to Nationals but its region will not gain an additional seed. Should that occur, the runner-up team will earn an additional seed for its region but must earn qualification through its qualifier series (i.e. the runner-up can *not* gain automatic entry via the Open system).
Competitive Region Qualifiers: All competitive regions must play at least two - but no more than four - qualifying tournaments to competitively seed its teams for the USA Rugby Club 7s National Championship. Regions that intend to use championship tournaments must count their tournaments as part of that total (2-4), and regions with split qualifiers must count each tournament as a single qualifier event. Additional tournaments may be played by 7s participating teams but cannot count towards qualification to Nationals.
Certification of Events: All qualifying events must be certified by the 7s working group. Certified events will be expected to follow minimum event performance standards, and all certified events will appears on usaclub7s.com.
