The ground-breaking tournament gives Under-13 players from across the east of England the opportunity to take their first steps along a possible road to the Olympic Games.
And this year youngsters from Oxfordshire will have the chance to take on their counterparts from Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk as part of Elite Insurance's commitment to growing the shortened form of the sport.
Elite Insurance, one of the Saints' group of Elite Sponsors, extended their backing of the Sevens Series by three years following a successful inaugural tournament in which over 40 schools took part.
Although there is the prestige of following in the footsteps of Northampton School for Boys in taking home some silverware, the Elite Insurance Sevens Series also includes the provision of coaching sessions for the players and coach development sessions for their teachers in the run-up to one of five regional tournaments held in each respective county.
The 2014 Elite Insurance Sevens Series gets underway in Cambridge on Tuesday, March 11th. The Bedfordshire tournament takes place two days later (Thursday, March 13th), with Suffolk the following week (Tuesday, March 18th).
The Northamptonshire tournament will be held at Franklin's Gardens on Wednesday, March 19th, coinciding with the 2014 Mobbs Memorial Match, before the regional tournaments are rounded off in Oxfordshire on April 1st.
The winners and runners-up from each regional tournament will then head to Franklin's Gardens on Thursday, April 24th, 2014 to compete for the right to be named Elite Insurance Sevens Series champions.
“We were delighted with the first year of the Sevens Series,” said Elite Insurance group executive officer Barbara Bock. “The Saints' community team did a fantastic job organising the regional tournaments and the finals day, and there was some really positive feedback from the schools that took part.
“It was an easy decision to extend our backing of the Sevens Series, and it is something that everyone at Elite Insurance believes in. School sport is where the stars of tomorrow are nurtured, and with Rugby Sevens now an Olympic sport you never know where a journey that starts in the Sevens Series could finish!
“We're looking forward to an exciting Series in 2014.”
With schools already signing up to be a part of the 2014 Elite Insurance Sevens Series, Ben Mann from the Saints community department says that this season's competition promises to be bigger and better than before.
“We had 40 schools last season but we're aiming to get a lot more in this year's Series,” he said. “While the first year was successful it was the first time that we had run such a wide ranging competition over a variety of venues, and inevitably we have learned lessons that we can implement over the next three years.
“The commitment shown by Elite Insurance has enabled us to deliver a unique tournament within the Premiership and to expand into new areas. We are looking forward to this season’s Sevens Series.”
Coaches and teachers who want to enter their school into the 2014 Elite Insurance Sevens Series should email [email protected], with coaching sessions to start after the resumption of the academic year after the Christmas holidays.
One of Northampton Saints’ Elite Sponsors, Elite Insurance has evolved rapidly to become one of Europe’s leading Insurers. A commitment to continual expansion and acquisition enables Elite to offer clients unrivalled expertise in many niche areas of insurance, delivering products quickly, conveniently and competitively.
For more information head to www.elite-insurance.co.uk
