USA Rugby Announces 2011 Championship Locations
Posted by admin in 
USA rugby today announced the locations for all of its 2011 National Championship venues and by doing so gave the Utah Valley team an idea of what will be needed to achieve their goal of becoming 2011 Division II National Champions.
The announcement brings changes for the Division II competition this year as the spread of teams across the country has been taken into account. The rounds of 16 & 8 will be held on the 16th and 17th of April and will be split for the first time this year, with teams from the western unions completing their playoff games at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, San Diego. The qualifying teams from the eastern unions will meet for their playoff rounds in the same location as last year at the Seminole Soccer Complex in Sanford, Florida.
The teams that move on from this stage will then meet for the Semi Finals and Finals on the 30th of April and the 1st of May respectively. These championship games have been moved to Founders Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The championship schedule will be mirrored by the Division II Women’s Playoffs and will not be held in conjunction with the Division I playoffs as in past years as USA Rugby begins its inaugural season of College Premier League Rugby.
“We’re pretty happy with how the venues have worked out for us,” said Utah Valley Head Coach Josh Cooper. “The playoff round in Florida was a difficult one for our guys, so not having to make that trip is huge for us. We’ve got a long way to go until we can start thinking about national playoffs, but it’s good to know early what to expect to help the boys prepare the best that they can.”
The Utah Valley team will start the spring semester on the last weekend of January in Mesquite, attending the annual Redrock Tournament. The team will then face some tough tests at the Las Vegas Invitational before taking on College Premier League powers and local neighbors, BYU and Utah, before the beginning of the Utah Rugby Union Playoffs.
