Illinois/Wisconsin Cup?

I have heard rumors and discussions about the possibility of some inter-league play between Wisconsin and Illinois during the Spring season. There is nothing official, but I want to put out the the reasons why this could be a really good idea for both Wisconsin and Illinois Girls Rugby and some thoughts about how the competition might work. Hopefully this might jump start the process.

The geographic proximity of south-eastern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, where most teams are located, makes some form of competition a natural. During the spring season, the top three Wisconsin teams are preparing for the Midwest play-offs and, therefore, have a very condensed schedule. For the remaining teams in Wisconsin this is a "building" season, as the fall is Wisconsin's competitive season. So, why an inter-state competition:

• It provides additional variety for the Illinois teams who currently only have 6 teams in their conference;
• It provides Wisconsin teams with a competitive frame-work for the Spring season for those teams not competing in the mid-west;
• It provides an additional avenue of success for all teams involved (i.e. there would be a Wisconsin-Illinois Cup which would be separate and distinct from either team's state champion or the Midwest competition).
• As described below, the participants would vary each year, adding greater variety to the schedule.

So, how would it be structured? The simple answer is any way the people want. But here is one simple proposal. Wisconsin teams ranked number 4-7 from the Fall season (since seeds 1-3 traditionally play in the Midwest Cup and Open divisions) play against Illinois teams ranked 1-4 from the prior season. Using a knock-out bracket method, the 8 team competition could be resolved in three weekends of play. All teams would get three games, as the non-winning teams would continue to play-off for ranking within the competition.

Based on current rankings as put on the Illinois website and the Wisconsin conference, an opening weekend would looks something like this:

• Lincoln Way (1) v. Oak Creek (7)
• Plainfield (2) v. Northshore (6)
• St. Charels (3) v. Kettle Moraine (5)
• Nobel Street (4) v. Brookfield (4)

A coin toss decides whether the opening weekend is played in Illinois or Wisconsin. Schedule dates, get a sir, get a field and away we go!

Thoughts and comments welcome.