Mother’s is one of 12 teams who have qualified and chosen to compete at the USA Rugby D1AA 7s National Championship. The teams that qualified are
Florida International
Stanford
St. Joseph’s
Iowa State
Western Michigan
Sam Houston State
Oregon State
Lindenwood-Belleville
Western Washington
Kennesaw State
Nebraska
Dartmouth qualified but chose not to compete at the tournament and instead focus on CRC’s in Philly, this makes more sense for them as they are a staple of the CRC tournament and don’t have much to gain by playing in Tucson against less notable competition and no ESPN+ coverage. Their choice to bypass the tournament opened up a second at large bid.
Mother’s would have been a strong candidate to win a place at CRC’s via one of the qualifying tournaments however logistically and financially the CRC qualification process is an even more challenging event for Mother’s than the USA Rugby Championships. The cost of traveling to a qualifying tournament, CRC entry costs, lodging, & travel. In addition it requires that international students find a place to stay for an extra month. This impacts their ability to find a summer job back home.
