As Kansas City eyes 2031 Rugby World Cup, Raytown will host Fountain City 7s rugby tournament Saturday

KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County, including Independence. Share your story idea with Tod.

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The Kansas City Rugby Club is hosting the Fountain City 7s, a USA Rugby national qualifying tournament, Saturday at the Raytown Soccer Complex in Kansas City, Missouri.

The tournament comes as local rugby supporters hope the sport can replicate the surge in popularity the FIFA World Cup brought to Kansas City and the country around soccer.

"You're going to see seven-a-side rugby, which is high-speed, high-impact rugby," Joe Fridkin, president of the Kansas City Blues Rugby Club, said.

Fridkin said the club hopes the momentum soccer saw translates to rugby at the grassroots level with the 2031 Rugby World Cup slated to be played in the United States.

"You can already see what's happened with soccer and we would hope that we could follow suit — where we're getting many children interested in playing the game and growing the sport from the grassroots level," Fridkin said.

Mark Barbour — captain of the Kansas City Blue 7s rugby team, which will compete in the Fountain City 7s tourney — said the FIFA World Cup showed what widespread attention can do for a sport.

"After seeing what the soccer World Cup did, with everybody talking about it, if everybody was talking about rugby the same way, then I think we'd get a lot more interest," Barbour said.

Vince Jacoby, vice captain of the Kansas City Blue 7s rugby team, said the team has spent the summer preparing for the qualifying tournament.

"We've been working all summer to get everybody ready, get the boys out here, and I think we got a real good shot to push over that qualifying bid this Saturday," Jacoby said.

Casey Cummings, Kansas City Blues 15s head coach, said the team is ready for the challenge.

"The pressure is going to be on, and the boys are really up for the challenge," he said. "I think you're going to get an exciting brand of rugby. You'll see a lot of heart and desire."

With the U.S. set to host the Rugby World Cup in 2031, local rugby supporters hope Saturday's tournament is a step toward growing the sport ahead of that opportunity.

Kansas City is bidding to host games in the Rugby World Cup.

"Our final bid is due Aug. 31 and from there they'll start to select host cities," said Kathy Nelson, president and CEO of the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission and Visit KC. "... The Rugby World Cup is the fifth largest event in the world. We just hosted the largest event in the world; Rugby World Cup ranks right up there. So, if you're not a fan, you should get to be a fan quickly."

The top two teams from the MidAmerica/Frontier Conference after the Fountain City 7s tourney will advance to the USA Club Rugby 7s National Championship on Aug. 8 to 9 in Madison, Wisconsin.

The Fountain City 7s starts at 8 a.m. and continues throughout the day Saturday with games in the national qualifier, recreational, women's and high school divisions.

The Raytown Soccer Complex is located at 14200 E. 87th St., adjacent to Little Blue Trace Park and just southeast of the Missouri 350 intersection with old Noland Road.

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