MEXICO CITY — Mexico City, home of the Campo Marte athletic grounds, will once again play host to the annual Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens tournament on November 25th and 26th, 2017. The international men’s and women’s tournament was last played on the nearly 62 thousand square meter facility in 2014. All Members of RAN, including Associate Members and Regional Development Unions are expected to participate. This year’s international competition is a qualifier for the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Sports Organization (CACSO) Games, 2018 Hong Kong Sevens, Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 and Commonwealth Games.
Campo Marte is a military and equestrian venue located next to the National Auditorium in Chapultepec Park, Mexico City. Campo Marte hosts major events on behalf of the Mexican Government. The spacious grounds will house two fields of play, two warm-up areas, medical and team facilities, and covered spectator seating.
“Mexico is really thrilled to once again host the RAN 7s,” said Francisco Echeguren, President of Federacion Mexicana de Rugby. “It’s going to be held in the same beautiful location, at Campo Marte, in the middle of Mexico City, and this year we plan to make upgrades to many aspects of the tournament, including the player areas, live stream and production and the post-tournament social.”
For over a decade RAN has organized the sevens tournament to increase competition within the region and provide member unions a professional setting to showcase the sport’s rapid growth.
“We are extremely pleased that once again the RAN Sevens will be hosted by the Federacion Mexicana de Rugby at the Campo Marte Sports Complex,” said RAN General Manager Niall Brooks. “Campo Marte is a perfect location to hold such a prestigious event, with ample space for two full size, good quality pitches, warm up areas, tented “village” for all teams and excellent covered stands for what hopefully will be a sizeable crowd on both days.
“The 2017 RAN Sevens also has the added bonus of being a regional qualifier for a number of other International Sevens events and therefore we anticipate a record number of Men’s and Women’s teams entering this year. The Federacion Mexicana de Rugby are very accomplished at hosting quality regional tournaments and I am sure everyone now will be looking forward two enthralling and entertaining days of rugby sevens.”
All participating teams will be finalized by August, with a full schedule to be released shortly after. All matches of the 2017 RAN Sevens tournament will be streamed live on RAN’s youtube channel. Fans can also follow updates on the #RAN7s tournament via Facebook and Twitter.