HSBC World Sevens Series in Las Vegas
Tomorrow sees the beginning of an international event in Las Vegas that welcomes several fast, physical athletes from all over the globe. On the first day of this event there will even be massive encounters between USA and Canada, New Zealand and Australia, South Africa and Wales and even England versus Scotland.
Do you know what the event is?
Between Friday and Sunday Las Vegas plays host to the fifth leg of the globally supported HSBC (rugby) Sevens World Series.
It is an event where fans get the opportunity to see some of the world’s most gifted physical athletes trying to smash each other and burn round them to score tries. It is an abbreviated version of the game rugby, but it is much quicker, much shorter and much more exciting.
USA are currently ranked twelfth in the Series standings, one place behind rivals Canada, and regularly come up against a host of colorful and exciting national sides like those from Samoa, Fiji, Kenya, Argentina and Portugal.
The competition is traditionally dominated by the power four: New Zealand, Fiji, England and South Africa. However, upsets happen all the time in this World Series and there are no guaranteed winners in any competition. On top of this the teams from USA, Canada and, in particular, France have improved markedly in the last few years.
This improvement looks set to continue as Rugby Sevens has been cleared to be an event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. It is already a big draw at the Commonwealth games.
USA in particular seems incredibly eager for the game to expand and draw crowds. They have just upped their investment in the sport with one eye on 2016 and they operate as a full-time professional side, garnering funds from the United States Olympic Committee.
In an article for the International Rugby Board, USA Sevens coach Al Caravelli stated, “Receiving funding from the USOC has been fantastic.
“We have to give credit to our board and our executives because our funding didn’t need to kick in until 2013 but they had the vision to see that most of the core teams on the Series are full-time already, and if we want to win a medal in 2016 we need to start the investment now in 2012, which they have now done.
He continued: “and it is that medal that is so important – the USA is all about that. The USOC feeds on medals and the brighter the medal the more they feed on it, so when they invest in you they expect results. But that is good, now the players have a motivation and a goal to reach.
“But the tournaments are just going to get more competitive and as that happens not only are more core teams going to come into play but fans are going to become more attracted, and not only the current ones, but the new fan base.
“NBC came on board for the USA Sevens last year and they are for this year too. As we do well that fan base will grow in the USA in the same way it will for other countries, including Brazil.”
NBC will be showing some of the action, but if you get the chance to go it would be well within your interests. There is always a party atmosphere at these events and the crowd is one of the most welcoming in sports.
Sevens looks like it will have a bright future in world sport and USA are certainly an integral part of that.
Want to know more? You can learn about the game here. You can also see highlights from last season’s incendiary Vegas competition here.
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