RUGBY league’s Nines circuit moves to Florida tomorrow as the women’s game steps into the spotlight at the Tampa’s Mayhem Nines.
Roots Rugby, who took out the 2019 London Nines and also competed in the Carolina Nines, are one of four teams in the first officially-sanctioned USARL women’s competition of any type.
The tournament also marks the start of the USARL men’s season, which was thrown a curve ball a couple months ago with the launch of the breakaway North American Rugby League. Men’s teams involved in the Tampa tour stop are: Roots Rugby, Jacksonville Axemen, Gainesville, South Florida Speed, Atlanta Rhinos, Copperheads and the host Tampa Mayhem.
Women’s teams are Tampa Mischief, Jacksonville Chiefs and out-of-state visitors, the established rugby union club Chicago North Shore.
The action starts at Keystone Prep High School in Odessa at 8.30am with the finals to take place late afternoon.
“With losing last season, we wanted to get as many games as we could this summer to make up for lost time,’ Tampa Mayhem joint CEO Billy Neilsen said.
“The boys are amped up and ready to go. The Nines format is great for new players to get a lot of experience in one day. It’s helps out refs as well. We should have five to six refs getting their certification this weekend.
“We also received a real interest in starting up a women’s team and I am really excited that they are going to be competing. It should be a great weekend.”
Garen Casey, the head of the US women’s program, is a former first grader with Parramatta, Penrith and Wakefield.
“We’re excited because it’s our first step to establishing our domestic footprint here in the US,” he said.
“A lot of hard work and patience has been shown by my team behind the scenes to get here. We’ve had many false starts with Covid but now we’ve arrived”
The tournament will be streamed on Twitch and can be followed via Rugby League Nines social channels.
