The 29th Annual Lakefront 7's

Next weekend, Saturday July 9th is the 29th Annual Lakefront 7's on the shoreline of Lake Michigan along Lake Drive in downtown Milwaukee.

For the first time in a number of years, there won't be a bracket just for girls high school rugby. There's an 8-team boys bracket, but not enough interest from the girls teams. There are two women's brackets, so they will feature collegiate and adult club team players.

Why no girls sevens this summer?

Well, that's a tough question. Some proponents of 7's suggest it's easier to form teams and new teams in particular during a 7's season. Certainly, since you need less players, that should be easy. Plus, there are less skills and set pieces to teach since rucking, scrumming, and lineouts are all simplified in the 7's version of rugby.

With that as a given, we think there are two reasons for 7's being less attractive to recreational athletes. First, it's the summer time. That's synonymous with festival time in Milwaukee. There's music, water sports, and a million other events going on. It's vacation time and travel time. Coaches and athletes return to the rest of their lives. It's also a time for young students to work summer jobs and learn what it's like to have responsibility. In short, it's time to do all those things you can't the rest of the year in the Midwest.

The second reason, and this is purely an opinion and not the official position of WGR, is that Sevens rugby needs only one kind of athlete: A fast one. If you're not fast, it's just not going to be your game. If you're not fast, try playing in the hot summer months on a full size field with half the teammates of a regular match. Be prepared to sprint. The entire time. 15's rugby has grown so rapidly in the Midwest because the short and the tall; the fast AND the slow contribute in meaningful ways to a successful team. Every kind of athlete can find success in 15's. Now, certainly 7's can be a lot of fun. Certainly a lot of tries can be scored, quickly. But i wonder if 7's will ever be as popular as 15's. What do you think? Leave us a note .....