The two girls’ high school 15s national tournaments will once again call Madison, Wis., their host for the 2025 event, to be held Friday-Sunday, May 16-18. In 2024, the two tournaments reunited at the Wisconsin Rugby Sports Complex after five years of holding separate events in different locations. It was such a success with attendees, fans and scouts, that both 15s competitions have recommitted to a joint event in Wisconsin.
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The location for the 2025 Girls’ High School Club 15s National Tournament was announced in August 2024.
“Returning in 2025 was a no-brainer for our committee. We agreed quickly, before someone else locked in those dates before us,” said Chris Kovac, the Girls’ High School Club Committee Director. “The facilities at the Wisconsin Rugby Club in Madison are second to none and capture that real rugby experience for players and spectators. [Madison United Executive Director] Brad Dufek does an amazing job hosting the tournament. His methods of preparing for the tournament is pretty stress free.”
The organizing committee for the Girls’ High School 15s National Tournament followed suit this month.
“We got a lot of positive feedback in regard to having both tournaments at the same venue,” said single-school commissioner John Klein, who is also the head of Divine Savior Holy Angels. “The college coaches are just loving the fact that all the talent — obviously, there’s more talent than just who showed up at the tournaments — but there’s a lot of great talent out there in one place.”
Last year, teams from 12 different states, coast to coast, reported to Madison, and scouts from at least 15 college rugby programs, as well as USA Rugby age grade coaches, were on site.
“Teams were, for the most part, enjoying what Madison has to offer,” added Klein, who is also the head coach of Divine Savior Holy Angels in Milwaukee. “It’s just a unique venue that has two great fields and an option to put a third up. It’s just an awesome facility and everyone was pretty happy having it there.”
The single-school competition is, as the name suggests, for teams that draw players from a single high school. The high school club competition features teams that draw membership from multiple schools. The tournaments stagger their competition dates, with high school clubs playing a Friday-Saturday format, and the single schools going Saturday-Sunday. Both events have offered developmental options — e.g., J.V. or Division II — for teams wanting to sample that nationals environment but with lower stakes. This year, high school clubs hope to reintroduce a middle school division.
“This fits, and it makes sense,” Klein said of the competitions reuniting in Wisconsin. “And hopefully, having the location announced before the end of November will give everyone a great chance to come and be part of it all.”
For more information on:
• Madison, the facility, logistics, etc., contact Brad Dufek: murugbydirector@gmail.com
• Single-school nationals, contact John Klein: jklein@sdsm.k12.wi.us
• High school club nationals, contact Chris Kovac: chris.kovac1@gmail.com