The TROPICAL 7s is excited to announce its 2022 and 2023 tournaments will be hosted in a new venue and in a new location in Tampa, Florida, USA. The event will be held at the Tournament Sportsplex of Tampa Bay.
The Tournament Sportplex of Tampa Bay is an exciting new venue that will allow the Tropical 7s to continue to expand and grow into one of the world’s most prestigious youth rugby tournaments. The sports complex is conveniently located just 10 minutes from downtown Tampa and only a 20-minute drive from Tampa International Airport. The location is also only 45 minutes from Florida’s gulf coast beaches and less than a 1-hour drive from the Disney theme parks in Orlando, allowing easy access to take advantage of the full Florida experience: https://goo.gl/maps/QhZGHLwigbQxZBvd9
The newly built and state-of-the-art facility was completed in 2018 and consists of 15 professionally maintained full-size pitches, each with its own LED lighting and live stream capability. The impressive facility features a tournament plaza with on-site concessions, ample parking space, with over 6000 hotel rooms within a 10-minute drive of the venue — offering an extensive range of accommodation options. Many of Tampa’s famous attractions are just a short drive from the venue including Busch Gardens, the Florida Aquarium and Adventure Island, as well as the world-famous beaches of St. Pete and Clearwater.
Tampa itself is a world-renowned sporting destination in its own right and is home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2021 NFL Champions), the Tampa Bay Lightning (2021 NHL Champions) and many other professional and amateur sports teams. Alongside its beach and vacation vibe, the Tampa Bay area is famous for its pirate culture, including the colourful Gasparilla Festival taking place every year where locals and tourists alike descend on the city for a parade and party along Tampa’s streets and its waterways each year to celebrate José Gaspar, the legendary pirate who supposedly terrorized his way up and down the west Floridian coast in the late 18th century. The local rugby club is the Tampa Bay Krewe.
“We are thrilled to be bringing the Tropical 7s to Tampa during Easter week” said Tropical 7s Executive Director John Siner. "The Tournament Sportsplex is a fantastic facility that teams are going to love playing at. The move to the new venue will allow the Tropical 7s to deliver not only a world-class event, but continue to grow and offer the rugby community an even better experience than before including night matches, with full live stream of all matches. There is also so much to do outside of rugby, with the beaches and access to attractions both in Tampa and in nearby Orlando. We now have the capacity to be one of the world’s most attractive tournaments.”
The Tropical 7s offers competitive divisions at U23/18/16/14 for both boys and girls, and an U12 'coed' division.
The Tropical 7s Athlete Combine run on Thursday before the tournament which all registered players are welcome to participate in. The Talent ID Programme will likely be enhanced as well with the participation of additional partners, and it is expected to have recruiters from USA Rugby and many colleges/universities. All teams are invited to arrive early and set up training camp and practice sessions in the week leading up to the competition.
Short video about the Tampa Sportsplex: