St. Joe’s (Andrea Rolf photo) and Sacramento (Summit Lights Photography) are the reigning champs. •
The 18th Annual Girls High School Rugby National Invitational Championships (NIC) will take place Friday-Sunday, May 19-21, 2017, at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind. This year’s event features single-school and club brackets at one location, with club teams competing on Friday-Saturday and single-school teams competing on Saturday-Sunday.
The Moose Rugby Grounds, home of Penn High School, is one of the premier rugby-specific facilities in the United States, having hosted the Boys National Invitational Championships on multiple occasions as well as having over a decade of experience as the home of the Midwest Girls and Boys Championship and all-star events, regularly hosting an average of 170 matches a year. With three professionally maintained, grass match fields and additional practice field space, the Moose regularly hosts tournaments with 40-plus teams.
As part of the invitational tournament process, teams are asked to complete an online registration. Club team applications will be available Nov. 25. Single-school team applications are available now. All teams are asked to use a hotel booking service to ensure their attendance.
• Single Schools: Online registration (click here) is due March 1, 2017
• Club Teams: Online registration available Nov. 25 and will be due March 1, 2017; visit the club website (click here)
The 2016 NICs saw ground-breaking expansion as 34 programs competed in club, single-school division one and single-school division two brackets. Organizers anticipate multiple brackets of both school and club competitions this year.
National Girls Single-School Coaches Committee Chair John Klein commented that “the national girls’ tournament has never been stronger as more and more competitive high school girls teams continue to develop.”
Full details of the girls’ national tournament events are in the process of being planned. Inquiries should be directed to members of the National Girls Single-School Coaches or National Girls Club Coaches committees until full event packets are published.
• National Girls Single-School Coaches Committee
John Klein, Committee Chair: jklein@sdsm.k12.wi.us
Buck Billings (South): buckbillings@mcminnschools.org
Bernie Cantorna (East): bcantorna@gmail.com
John Waliszewski (MW): wisconsingirlsrugby@gmail.com
• National Girls Club Coaches Committee
Marin Pinnell, President: marinpinnell@gmail.com
Bob Stephen, Treasurer: bobs@rsc2lc.com
Pam Laura, Operations: plaura@verizon.net
Steve Lopez, Collegiate Liaison: stephenlpz@yahoo.com
Julie Prentice, Press/communication: julie.prentice@atavus.com
Rex Norris, Discipline Chair: rex.norris@atavus.com
• Girls High School National Invitational Championships
When: May 19-21, 2017
Friday: Club quarterfinals & semifinals
Saturday: Club finals; Single-School quarterfinals & semifinals
Sunday: Single-School finals
Where: Moose Rugby Grounds, 1510 County Rd 6, Nappanee, IN 46550
Tournament Grounds Director: Tom Shelley, tshell38@aol.com, 574-250-9122
#2017NationalInvitationalChampionship