- Los Angeles Invitational (LAI) expects to have over 200 male and female Youth, Collegiate and Senior Clubs play, as the official amateur tournament of the HSBC LA Sevens at Dignity Health Sports Park, Feb 28 – 29, 2020.
- Open to all ages and all skill levels, LAI offers the opportunity for teams across the USA, and the world, to play rugby and participate around the largest international rugby event in the USA.
- Competition formats within the LAI are to include tackle, flag and for the first time ever, beach rugby at nearby South Bay Beach.
- Team Registration now open at lasevensrugby.com/register and available through February 8th, 2020.
- Hotel incentives and Ticket discounts to the HSBC LA Sevens, are available for teams participating in the Los Angeles Invitational Tournament
LOS ANGELES, CA – As has been tradition with the United States stop on the HSBC World Rugby Seven Series, the international event will span beyond the pitch inside Dignity Health Sports Park with over 200 amateur teams competing in the Los Angeles Invitational (LAI). Projected to be one of the largest amateur rugby tournaments in the country, the LAI will feature teams of all ages and skill levels, spanning youth, high school, collegiate and adult divisions. For the first time in amateur tournament history, LAI will also feature a Beach Rugby competition in partnership with USA Beach Rugby. The LAI tournament will take place Feb. 28th & 29th; Friday at the OC Great Park in Irvine and Saturday on the Dignity Health Sports Park Campus, immediately outside the stadium where the 16 international Olympic rugby sevens teams will compete for gold on the 5th stop of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Registration for the LAI, including the Beach Rugby division, is now open with a sign-up deadline of February 8th.
REGISTER FOR LOS ANGELES INVITATIONAL »
Dan Lyle, Director of the LA Sevens & AEG Rugby: “The LAI is an integral part of the LA Sevens and something we were keen to continue, build on and develop. We know that many of our fans are also players who want to participate before they watch the best teams in the world, and we have a vision that from these same fields will come some of the future American Rugby Olympians who will take the field at Dignity Health Sports Park during the Olympics games as part of LA 2028. Equally, we want to add to the vibrant community that is SoCal Youth Rugby as well as the SoCal Rugby Union, and finally give both Mike Friday and Chris Brown a home tournament for those vying for their place to play in the HSBC Sevens World Series next year and beyond.”
Beginning Friday, February 28th on more than 16 top level fields at Orange County Great Park in Irvine, over 20 divisions ranging from Youth Under-8 Flag to High School, Collegiate and Men’s and Women’s Adult Club rugby will compete across Open and Elite Divisions. Moving to the Dignity Health Sports Park Campus on Saturday, February 29th for championship match-ups, each participating club will have the opportunity to play rugby and watch rugby with the LA Sevens kicking-off steps away, inside the stadium.
Steve Albrecht, Director of Los Angeles Invitational: “With a chance to build the Invitational in one of the most important rugby regions in the US, we wanted to focus on a few aspects of the tournament to enhance participants’ overall experience. One of these key areas was the location of the event. Orange County Great Park, Friday’s site, is a world-class facility that for the first time in Invitational history, enables all divisions to play side by side, creating a true rugby festival. That is followed by Saturday, providing the opportunity for all teams to play at the Field Complex that surrounds Dignity Health Sports Park, which routinely hosts pro soccer teams and national level academies. Offering this level of quality facilities to amateur players makes us proud to host the LAI.”
The new Beach Rugby division, will feature a 5-on-5 format, only a few miles west of Dignity Health Sports Park in the South Bay Beaches. The Beach Rugby competition will take place over one single day, Friday, February 28th, and is the first of the kind to be tied with a major international event, as well as offering an amazing social atmosphere to Collegiate and Adult clubs looking to take advantage of the California landscape. Set in a SoCal beach town famous for its music, food, and fun, the event will likely become a mainstay of the Invitational for years to come.
REGISTER FOR LA7s BEACH RUGBY »
“It’s wonderful to see a grassroots tournament of this size compliment the global sevens series on home soil,” added USA Rugby VP of Rugby Operations, Kurt Weaver, “Steve Albrecht and the AEG team have set up an exceptional opportunity for hopeful future Eagles to compete with their peers and be inspired by Olympic competition.”
Alongside the tournament bracket, USA Rugby High Performance scouting will also be in attendance with events of this size providing a high frequency of up and coming athletes for talent identification within the Eagles pathway.
With the excitement of the LA Sevens tournament encompassing the amateur tournament, accommodation and ticket incentives are offered to each participating team, making the international full event accessible to the grassroots game. Teams will be offered a discounted LAI registration fee for staying at a Marriott brand hotel, including a significant discount on room rates. Participating teams will also be offered discounted tickets to the international tournament inside Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday and Sunday. For more information and tickets to the Los Angeles Sevens, visit lasevensrugby.com
