Not only have the tournament dates been announced, but so have three special coaching clinics that will give players and teams the chance to hone their skills in the shortened version of the sport.
Schools in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk are welcome to join clinics in Cambridge (February 24th), Colchester (February 25th) and Ipswich (February 26th) at no charge. Schools in Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire can apply for coaching sessions directly from the Saints’ community team.
Then schools across the region are invited to enter one of six regional tournaments that will be held in March, with the winners and runners-up from each then heading to Franklin’s Gardens in April to battle it out for the right to be named Elite Insurance Schools Series champion for 2015.
Tournaments will be held in the following areas – Suffolk (March 4th), Cambridge (March 5th), Northampton (March 10th), Bedford (March 12th), Milton Keynes (March 16th) and Oxfordshire (March 24th), with finals day at Franklin’s Gardens in Northampton on April 23rd.
So far over 72 schools have signed up to be a part of this unique tournament, which is set to continue its rapid rise of the past two seasons. But there is still time to join the competition, and Saints community coach Will Parkin says that he is looking forward to some great rugby over the next couple of months.
“The take-up for this year’s Elite Insurance Schools Sevens has been superb,” he said. “In its first two years we saw the standard rise noticeably, and this is likely to get better again this season. Sevens as a sport is growing rapidly in popularity and profile, and the Elite Insurance Schools Sevens has become a fixture on the calendar already for many schools.
“The Eastern Counties and East Midlands is a hotbed of the sport, both in providing talented players to the Saints as well as a number of England’s current Sevens squad, and it gives all those youngsters who will be playing this year something to aim at and emulate in the future.”
For more information about the Elite Insurance Schools Sevens, apply for coaching sessions and enter the tournament email Will Parkin – [email protected]
One of the Saints’ Elite Sponsors, Elite Insurance is dedicated to supporting youth rugby in the Eastern Counties and East Midlands. The Elite Insurance Sevens Series gives Under-13 players the opportunity to play a new Olympic sport, with separate tournaments for clubs and schools.
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The Elite Insurance Sevens Series is the latest in the wide range of age group tournaments organised by Northampton Saints. Over the course of a season thousands of young rugby players in age groups ranging from Under-7s to Under-16s descend on Franklin’s Gardens on first team match days, with trophies and medals handed out on the main pitch during the half-time interval of that day’s Saints game.
