KC Current partners with Premier Rugby Sevens to offer three-day development camp

Three days after Kansas City’s hometown Current plays host to the Houston Dash at CPKC Stadium on July 20, the soccer pitch will be cleared, the stands emptied and the lights turned off.

Thirteen minutes away, the Current’s practice facility in Riverside won’t be used by its normal inhabitants preparing for their next match, but rather by high schoolers looking to learn more about rugby and hone their skills.

And why?

Premier Rugby Sevens — or PR7s, the highest level of pro seven-on-seven rugby in the U.S. — and the Current have partnered, per a recent news release, to host a three-day “development” camp.

The camp is geared toward helping aspiring players in the Kansas City area improve and widen their knowledge of the sport.

“As rugby takes center stage at the Olympic Games in Paris, our KC Development Rugby Camp presents a unique opportunity to bring our dynamic sport to a wider audience,” PR7 founder and CEO Owen Scannell said. “We invite athletes from all disciplines to experience rugby’s exhilarating pace and strategy.”

With all of the other major sports in and around the KC metro, rugby seldom sees much of the spotlight. Through its partnership with the Current, PR7s hopes to bring the sport to a younger demographic.

That’s part of the reason their camp, which runs from July 23-25 at the training center the Current opened in 2022, will feature an Olympic watch party: Many of PR7s members will be competing on the world stage in Paris.

Those players will be representing their organization, but also the sport of rugby itself, which PR7s proudly uses as a means for “breaking barriers.”

“Premier Rugby Sevens continues to break down gender barriers in U.S. sports, having achieved several milestones since its inception,” the release announcing the partnership proclaims. “These include launching as the first professional sports league with equal pay for male and female athletes, being the first North American league for women to play professional rugby and creating a combined championship that merges men’s and women’s results for a unified ranking.”

Members of the Current organization are no strangers to breaking barriers. Opening CPKC Stadium in mid-March was a milestone in of itself.

It’s the first U.S. stadium used exclusively by a women’s professional sports team, and a way for Kansas City to set a standard for women’s sports everywhere.

“This is like the real, physical embodiment of Title IX,” Current co-owner Angie Long has said of the new stadium. “My mom wasn’t even allowed to play sports, and I was but I was wearing the hand-me-down jersey. … It’s taken a while, but it’s so impactful; it’s changed everything.”

Embarking on this partnership with PR7s is another way for the Current to give back to the community.

“Whether you’re a soccer player looking to enhance your agility and teamwork, a track athlete eager to apply your speed in new ways or a football player interested in broadening your physical skills,” Scannell said, “our camp offers a prime platform to explore rugby.”

Interested athletes and their parents can register for the camp online at the PR7 website. Each registration fee includes a full kit and training film. The camp is scheduled to begin July 23 at 10 a.m.