2019 Club 7s Handbook: Men's Open Tournaments (Section 9)

9.1 Purpose

The purpose of the men’s open tournaments is five-fold:

1. To provide the chance for teams to reasonably reach quality opposition from outside their region prior to the Club 7s National Championship event,
2. To give teams the chance to qualify for the Club 7s National Championship event early, ensuring cost savings for players and additional opportunities for traveling supports to attend the finals, and
3. To give regions that lost a seed the opportunity to send more representation to the Club 7s National Championship event – either by directly qualifying a team or by earning an additional seed through other means (see 9.4), and
4. To create events closer to the Club 7s National Championship event both in operation and competition, and
5. To trial the ability of teams to travel during qualifying season, which provides data for future changes to the Club 7s season format

 
9.2. Dates for the 2019 Men’s Open Tournaments
 
Western Open: June 29-30, 2019* | San Francisco, CA - Hosted by Pacific North
Location San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Club
725 California Avenue - Treasure Island
San Francisco, CA
(Host contact)  Rick Humm     rickhumm@gmail.com            (831) 8402363
2019 Winner:  Life West & Pacific North gain a seed to the Men's Club National 7s

Eastern Open: June 29-30, 2019* | Philadelphia, PA - Hosted by Mid Atlantic
Location Greater Chester Valley Sports Association
137 Line Rd
Malvern, PA 19355
(Host contact)  Patrick Boyle   pboyle01@gmail.com            (570) 778-8158
2019 Winner:  Schukill River & Mid Atlantic gain a seed to the Men's Club National 7s
 
The events will be two-day tournaments. Attending teams should plan to depart their tournament site late Sunday afternoon / early Sunday evening instead of Sunday morning. Any Sunday matches will be concluded by 2:00 pm. 

All teams interested in participating need register their intent to do so through completion of this electronic form: ​https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1T3d88Mpm4FwImdEcB8RgfehTjw3-KjNuZjkKLvd78Io

9.3. Awarding of Events & Hosting Preferences
 
USA Rugby will select the locations for each event in 2019. Existing tournaments, or tournaments that are already planned as qualifiers, may apply to host via contacting James Wilber (jwilber@usarugby.org).
 
Hosts will be able to charge for entry the same as they do at regional qualifying tournaments, though the rate must be approved by USA Rugby.
 
For 2019, hosting preference will be based on seed allocation (e.g. seed loss) at the Club 7s National Championship event, and regions will be given first priority to host in this order:
 
Western Open:

1. Red River 
2. Pacific North
3. Pacific South
4. Frontier

Eastern Open:

1. Mid-Atlantic
2. South
3. Midwest
4. Atlantic North

9.4. Who may enter?
 
Men’s teams that have previously competed in Club 7s qualifiers in the last 3 years may register to participate in the Men’s Open. USA Rugby reserves the right to review all entrants for participation prior to acceptance into the tournament, so as to protect the integrity of those competing (e.g. to ensure teams are substantially the same as teams who've participated previously, and not new select sides trying to take as short-cut). After approval by USA Rugby, registrations will be accepted on a first-come/first-serve basis (by payment of entry fee), and will be limited to 24 teams total, per event. 
 
Teams that have not previously competed in Club 7s qualifiers may petition for entry but are not guaranteed the ability to enter. USA Rugby reserves the right of discretion in accepting or denying entrants to the competition(s).
 
Teams that enter the open tournaments must also still compete in their regional qualifying tournaments, and their seed at nationals will be based on their performance within their region. Teams' rosters at open tournaments must be substantially similar to the rosters used during competitive region qualifiers or during previous qualifying seasons. 

Application / Declaration of Intent to Participate Form
 
9.5. How do the open tournaments work?
 
The winner of each tournament will directly qualify for the Club 7s National Championship. Its seed at the event will be determined by the team’s performance within its CR qualifying series.
 
If the winner of an open tournament comes from a region with 3 seeds, the winner will directly qualify for the Club 7s National Championship event and their region will only have 2 more seeds for the championship event (no region may have more than 3 seeds). In the event this occurs, the region of the open tournament’s runner-up will gain an additional seed for its qualifying series, but the runner-up team itself will not directly qualify for the Club 7s National Championship event.
 
Examples:

1. The Western Open Champion comes from the Frontier region and the runner-up comes from the Red River region. The Western Open champion automatically qualifies for the Club 7s National Championship event and the Frontier region will only have 2 remaining seeds to the Club 7s National Championship Event. The Red River region gains an additional seed, but the runner-up team does automatically qualify. The Red River region would now have 2 seeds for its qualifying series (it currently has 1 seed).
   
   
2. The Western Open Champion comes from the Red River region and the runner-up comes from the Pacific South region. The Western Open champion automatically qualifies for the Club 7s National Championship event, and the Red River region will have 1 remaining seed for its qualifying series. The Pacific South does not gain an additional seed.