Wisconsin Girls Rugby (WGR) confirmed that its statewide 7s series, Wisco 7s, will occur between April-June this year. The circuit will also couple nicely with the first-ever RaMP Up Reffing curriculum, which is currently training up nine women officials for the WGR and beyond.
RELATED: Holloway Optimistic for Spring Rugby
WGR President Barry Holloway explained that several teams played exhibition matches in the fall, and the league collected data to assess how well participants mitigated the dangers of playing rugby during Covid-19. Out of the six teams that submitted stats, only two players tested positive during the season, and neither were suspected of contracting the virus from a teammate, practice or game.
That insight aided the March 2 vote to approve a spring schedule, which includes:
2021 WISCO 7s
April 24 @ Pulaski
May 8 @ Cottage Grove
May 15 @ Nashotah Park
June 5 @ Oshkosh
The series will produce DI and DII champions.
“We will determine the format and the scheduling for the series as we get close and have a better idea of numbers, but as of right now all teams in the state are participating,” Holloway confirmed.
Additionally, Catholic Memorial High will host its James Foley Memorial 10s tournament on May 1, and the following day, Wisconsin All-Star 15s head coach Jeff Noe will be hosting tryouts in Waukesha. Other teams have scheduled games in preparation for the Midwest Girls High School 15s Championship (April 24, Elkhart, Ind.). If Lakefront 7s occurs in Milwaukee, then WGR will send a team, but Holloway indicated that the event is 50/50 right now.
“They are waiting on approval from the county,” Holloway explained. “One of the draws of the event is that it runs concurrently with Summerfest, which claims to be the world’s largest music festival, but Summerfest was moved to September, which may cut into the allure of attending LF7s. Definitely a wait-and-see situation.”
In the meantime, the nine referees-in-training now have some opportunities to apply their virtually-gained knowledge onto the pitch. The online session was set up by Former Marquette Women’s Coach Shannon Bustillos, the USA Rugby Education Director for the Midwest, set up the online session, which was taught by Rosalind Anderson, a ref coach from the New York Ref Society, and Karen Fong Donoghue, founder of The Rugger’s Edge and head of officials at the 2019 Girls High School National Invitational Tournament at Infinity Park (Glendale, Colo.).
Stay tuned for coverage.