In a seven-tournament 7s series in which 43 different men’s sides, and 21 different women’s sides participated, the Dallas Rugby Football Club (a.k.a. the Reds) and the Austin Valkyries emerged as the 2017 TOLA 7s Series Champions.
Austin Valkyries 2017 Women’s TOLA 7s Series Champions |
Dallas Reds 2017 Men’s TOLA 7s Series Champions |
Although both clubs fell short of winning the final tournament of the Series hosted by Shreveport RFC (Riverboat 7s sponsored by Horseshoe Casino), over the course of the summer, the Reds and Valks were able to garner enough points to win championship honors.
Austin Huns 2017 Men’s TOLA 7s Series Runners-Up and Horseshoe 7s Men’s Tournament Champions |
Lady Quins 2017 Women’s TOLA 7s Series Runners-Up |
Congratulations are also in order for the Austin Huns and Lady Harlequins, who took Runner-Up honors in the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively. The Huns also won the men’s bracket at Horseshoe 7s—a victory which also earned them $1,000 in poker chips from tournament sponsor, Horseshoe Casino! The sHARCs emerged victorious in the women’s bracket at Horseshoe 7s, defeating the Valkyries in the Cup final.
sHARCs – 2017 Horseshoe 7s Women’s Tournament Champions |
Valkyries celebrate their series championship in the Youree Park fountain! |
2017 TOLA 7s in Pictures
Courtesy of Alex Taylor we have a few highlight reels:
Lonestar 7s Highlights
Denton 7s Highlights
Many thanks to the TRU, TRRA, and clubs that hosted the seven TOLA 7s tournaments this summer—Dallas RFC (Lonestar 7s), the Austin Huns (Bloodfest), O.U. Rugby (Tornado Alley), BARC (Space City 7s), Tulsa RFC (Parrothead 7s), Woodlands RFC (Cherrybone 7s), and Shreveport RFC (Horseshoe 7s), as well as Denton RFC for organizing a season-opening seeding tournament, and the Grand Prairie Maverick for hosting that tournament under some very challenging weather conditions.
2017 TOLA 7s Series Final Standings:
| 2017 Men’s | |||
| Place | Team | Total TOLA Pts. | |
| 1 | Reds 1 | 31 | |
| 2 | Huns 1 | 29 | |
| 3 | Lone Star | 18 | |
| 4 | Wichita RFC | 12 | |
| 5 | O.U. Rugby | 11 | |
| 6 | Quins | 10 | |
| 7 | Blacks | 8 | |
| 7 | HURT | 8 | |
| 7 | Woodlands | 8 | |
| 8 | Tulsa RFC | 7 | |
| 9 | Huns 2 | 5 | |
| 9 | Rose City | 5 | |
| 10 | Arkansas Gryphons | 4 | |
| 11 | Baton Rouge (Tuna Sub) | 3 | |
| 11 | KC Northland | 3 | |
| 11 | Matadors | 3 | |
| 12 | OKC | 2 | |
| 12 | DARC | 2 | |
| 12 | Mavericks | 2 | |
| 12 | Shreveport | 2 | |
| 13 | Angelo State | 1 | |
| 13 | Denton | 1 | |
| 13 | Ft. Hood | 1 | |
| 13 | Ft. Worth | 1 | |
| 13 | HARC | 1 | |
| 13 | Hoplites | 1 | |
| 13 | Jonesboro Chiefs | 1 | |
| 13 | LA Tech | 1 | |
| 13 | Lone Star 2 | 1 | |
| 13 | Los Pajeros | 1 | |
| 13 | Phantoms | 1 | |
| 13 | Redman Rugby | 1 | |
| 13 | Reds 2 | 1 | |
| 13 | Reds 3 | 1 | |
| 13 | Salamanders | 1 | |
| 13 | San Marcos | 1 | |
| 13 | SC7A Blue | 1 | |
| 13 | SC7A White | 1 | |
| 13 | Springfield RFC | 1 | |
| 13 | Team Attractive (Little Rock) | 1 | |
| 13 | Tribe | 1 | |
| 13 | UNT | 1 | |
| 13 | Yukon | 1 | |
| 2017 Women’s | |||
| Place | Team | Points | |
| 1 | Valks | 21 | |
| 2 | Lady Quins | 13 | |
| 3 | sHARC | 11 | |
| 4 | DARC Dames | 10 | |
| 5 | KC Jazz | 7 | |
| 5 | Riveters | 7 | |
| 5 | Satiated Beavers | 7 | |
| 6 | Tyler Hoplites | 6 | |
| 7 | Armadillos | 5 | |
| 7 | Hawks Rugby Academy | 5 | |
| 8 | Little Rock W | 4 | |
| 8 | Wichita W | 4 | |
| 9 | Reds Women | 3 | |
| 9 | Tulsa W | 3 | |
| 9 | UNM | 3 | |
| 10 | Blacks W | 2 | |
| 10 | Shreveport W (Valentines) | 2 | |
| 11 | Groom Squad | 1 | |
| 11 | Kansas Bison | 1 | |
| 11 | Sirens | 1 | |
| 11 | Valks III | 1 | |