American rugby has long since been making concerted efforts to grow its players and fanbase. Over the past 10 years, there have been multiple professional leagues popping up in the United States and across North America, one of those going by the name of PR7s, which stands for Premier Rugby 7s. The league debuted in 2021 and consists of 8 men's and women's teams. The squads compete in 7-on-7 rugby tournaments throughout the Spring and Summer. If you don't know about 7s rugby, a good explanation of the rules can be found here.
PR7s is one of the fastest-growing professional sports leagues in the nation and has taken notice of the rugby being played right here in the MoKan area. High school teams like the Rockhurst Junior Blues, St. Thomas Aquinas Saints, Liberty North Eagles, and others have served as the base for rugby talent here locally, with the Heartland Youth Rugby program being a K-8 pipeline to get youth introduced. Many local high school programs have been ranked nationally, as well as local college clubs like Kansas, Kansas State, and Missouri all making appearances in the national polls. Finally, you have your adult clubs The Kansas City Blues, Kansas City Jazz, and Kansas City Rugby Football Club, which have long since been committed to building the sport in the area. Kansas City has produced some PR7s talent already, such as Kyle Renner, Aren Martin, and Amanda Hull, among others from the area who have competed at one of USA professional rugby's highest levels. Kansas City rugby is alive and well, and that is why PR7s has decided to host a tryout camp right here in the KC suburbs.
The tryout camp will be Sunday, January 28th, 2023 from 8:30 am-2:30 pm. There will be a youth camp for grades K-12 from 9 am-12 pm that Saturday, January 27th at Heritage Middle School in Liberty hosted by the league, while the men's and women's tryouts will be held at the St. Thomas Aquinas football field in Overland Park. Women's registration will begin at 8:30 when the camp opens and men's registration begins at 12 pm. Players from college and professional clubs around the area are expected out, with plenty of talent that is highly likely to make the cut for one of the teams. It will be a great time watching KC locals do their best to make the cut in the professional rugby landscape. Special good luck to all my friends and teammates current and former who are trying out!
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