by Nigel Melville
Nigel Melville Direct
This weekend was my first trip to College Station, the home of Texas A&M and not much else..it's an amazing place, incredible facilities and an excellent venue for our first College National Sevens Championships for men and women. Last night we crowned two Champions, Life University (Men) and Norwich (Women), not names you would immediately associate with national Collegiate Titles, but on the day they over came some of the more familiar College brands such as CU, Arkansas State, Cal, Central Washington and others. Both finals were outstanding games, Boston College (Women) and Central Washington (men) made sure that trophies were not taken home without a severe test of their opponents credentials. In the men's final, Central Washington had done everything they needed to do to win, then in the final moments let in a try and we ran into sudden death overtime, Life taking their chances and winning the trophy.
Overall a great first event and something to build on in 2012, it would be nice to see an expansion of the Divisions and put the finals into the soccer stadium at the College, all things we can work on going forward. Texas A&M, Craig Coates and his team of 'worker bees' did an awesome job. Kevin Battle and his committee overcame a number of challenges to get this event off the ground, and the USA Rugby staff provided the teams with an event to remember.
Well done to everyone, it was a great event, the sevens rugby improved over the weekend and our Olympic dream has indeed begun...Happy Holidays...
With an impressive resume as player, coach and administrator, Nigel David Melville took over as CEO and President of Rugby Operations of USA Rugby, the National Governing Body of the sport in America, in 2006. In addition to his full time job promoting the sport in the U.S., Melville has launched his own blog, Nigel Melville Direct, to further the discussion and his passion for what it will take to make the U.S. a great rugby playing nation.
CLICK HERE to read more on Nigel Melville
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