U.S. Girls & Women's Rugby News • EST 2016

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300+ Report to NCR All-Stars

Lone Star Rugby's Telesi Uhatafe

National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) is hosting its annual women’s all-star 7s tournament on Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 25-26 in a new location this year — Silverbacks Park in Atlanta. The All Star and Rising Stars divisions will feature 22 conference-based teams and coaching staffs, marking the highest level of participation since the event’s inception in 2018. Close to 60 games will be live-streamed on The Rugby Network (with commentators) and NCR YouTube (field stream only).

More info: All-Star 7s Homepage

The tournament is rooted in Bryn Chivers, who spent six years as the Women’s Commissioner back when NCR was still the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO). He created the NSCRO All-Star 7s tournament and lured eight conference teams to St. Petersburg, Fla., for a weekend of next-level rugby and respite from winter temperatures.

“Florida? In January? I’m there,” said current NCR Women’s Commission Angela Smarto, who attended that first event – and every one since – as an Allegheny Selects coach and before transitioning to NCR staff.

RELATED: South Wins 1st NSCRO All-Star 7s Title

NSCRO held all-star 7s in Florida for three-straight years, 2018-20, and then resurfaced on the other side of covid in January 2022. Everything had changed at that point. NSCRO morphed into NCR to reflect its expanded membership, and today “small college” is known as “Division III.” Texas became the tournament home from 2022-24, and the competition evolved each year as Division I and Division II teams joined NCR and changed the landscape.

Ohio Valley rugby's Molly Cancian

Ohio Valley’s Molly Cancian / Photo: Jackie Finlan

Until 2025, Division III had its own all-star competition and did not cross over with the DI or DII conference teams. The stand-alone DIII also harkened back to those NSCRO roots and the original tournament. But now, Smarto explained, it’s more prudent to hold tiers of competition than it is to maintain the strictly DI/DII and DIII brackets. Although DIII has the numbers to remain separate, it’s more difficult in DI and DII, especially in hybrid conferences. Additionally, tiers allows players to compete at the right level: top tier to the All Star division, and second tier to the Rising Stars division.

Despite these shifts in organization, the core goals of the all-star event remain the same.

“A lot of teams and a lot of coaches say how valuable it is for players to go,” Smarto said. “So many of these kids are the best players on their home teams, but none of that works here. You can’t just out-athlete [the opposition], because everyone here is an athlete. They need to learn how to rugby, and they don’t always get that opportunity at home. So for those players who want a challenge, this is some of the best competition we can offer them as a real test.”

Before the pandemic, the all-star 7s tournament was a prime selection venue for the NSCRO 7s Selects, which competed at the Philadelphia-era CRCs and won the LVI 7s. That success and set-up supported the creation of the NSCRO 15s Selects, which at one point competed against the USA U20s.

All-stars in context: The Competitive Drive of Britni Ebert

Today, NCR has a men’s high performance program that launched last year, and there is movement in both the 7s and 15s spheres for the women. Stay tuned for more information from NCR in the very near future.

NCR all-stars is still a place to be seen, and two important figures will be evaluating talent in Atlanta: Michigan’s Jamie Frech and Brown University’s Ros Chou. Frech was the only woman on staff for the NCR men’s 15s tour to France during the summer. Chou leads the two-time reigning CRC 7s Premier champion and is also a Premier Rugby Sevens head coach. They’re both part of the built-out high performance program. Again, stay tuned for more info on teams, staffs and upcoming tours.

And there is a ton of action to follow! For the All Stars division, there are 10 teams divided into two pools. Everyone plays three pool matches on Saturday, and then starts Sunday with a fourth and final pool game. Knockouts follow, and the top-two teams from each pool head to the Cup semifinals. The bottom-six teams will play one cross-over consolation match. The final will kick off at 1:05 p.m. EST inside the stadium.

ALL STARS

Pool A: Lone Star, Midwest, Allegheny, Great Waters, Florida
Pool B: Big 10, Upstate New York, South Atlantic, Rugby Northeast, North Atlantic

Lone Star is the reigning champ and has returned three players (Lo Anderson, Ari Gieseck and MVP Telesi Uhatafe) who were named to the 2024 all-tournament team. The Florida conference as a whole is a first-timer to the event, though the league has sent teams like Florida State and Univ. South Florida to the NCR-driven CRCs (Eckerd was also a very prominent contributor in the early all-star events).

The Rugby Northeast had been an odd conference in that its membership was split between NCR and CRAA. That meant that some, not all, of its teams (the small colleges) were eligible for and competed in NCR all-stars. But in early 2024, the CRAA teams (the Division I colleges) switched to NCR and now the entire conference is eligible for the Atlanta tournament. DI teams like Northeastern, UMass and Boston College have all competed at recent CRCs and they’ll certainly pump up the All Star division.

The North Atlantic is another one to watch as it’s a new conference that combines the former New England Wide and Colonial Coast leagues, meaning a big player pool. Familiar faces in Carly Baker and Keith Cattanach are coaching that team.

There are 12 teams in Rising Stars that are divided into four pools. Everyone plays two pool play matches, and then the top-two teams in each group move onto the quarterfinals. Sunday is all knockouts – semifinals and finals. There’s a consolation bracket for all the third-place teams in pool play, and they’ll get another three games there. The Rising Stars final will air at 12:15 p.m. EST inside the stadium.

RISING STARS

Pool W: North Atlantic, Ohio Valley, Mid-America
Pool X: Eastern Pennsylvania (EPRU), Upstate New York, Cascade
Pool Y: Great Waters, Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic (MARC)
Pool Z: Allegheny, Rugby Northeast, Prairie States

Colonial Coast is the reigning champ but that conference no longer exists. It has been rolled into the new North Atlantic along with New England Wide (which did not supply an all-star team previously). EPRU is always in the championship talks and has notable returners like 2024 all-tournament member Jaidyn Bowen (York College), heavy-hitter Rosalyn Page and East Stroudsburg captain Lindsay Foster, who was last seen in action at the NCR 15s National Championships in December.

“I think the MARC will do well,” Smarto offered predictions. “Their coach is Andrew Higgs and he’s the head coach at Christopher Newport. That program is building and he has a good head on his shoulders about the game. My former teammate [at Penn State] and one of the first USA 7s contracted players ever, Deven [O’Crump, née Owsiany], is coaching them, too. She was with Georgetown this past year and they had a strong year.”

Smarto is also excited to see Cascade back in the mix. This conference is based in the Pacific Northwest and participated in all-stars back when it was held in Florida. Western Oregon head coach Nic Smith has been big in rebuilding the regional structure and also took the Wolves to CRCs last April.

“It’s my favorite event of the year, it really is,” Smarto closed. “There is nothing else like it. At CRCs, there are so many teams and it’s so overwhelming, and the stakes are really high, so people are in a really different mood. At all-stars, it’s all about good rugby, being away from home and hopefully getting some warmer weather from wherever you’re coming from, and trying to show out.”

That vibe also allows the all-star tournament to be held in January, at the beginning of the spring 7s season, with little resistance. The 7s on display might be a little more contact heavy than what might expect, as teams are coming out of fall 15s seasons, but the rugby skill and athleticism will be there. See for yourself, and if you can’t make it to Silverbacks Park, then catch the professionally produced broadcast on The Rugby Network and/or non-narrated feeds on NCR’s YouTube.

What’s next? Expect the NCR All-American 15s lists to go to print, and that will mark the full pivot to spring 7s. CRCs are again in Boyds, Md., from April 25-27, although the qualification will be different this year. Also watch NCR for more announcements regarding additional offerings in terms of next-level play. It’s exciting stuff.

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