USA Sevens Rugby Teams with Clark County School District for Adopt-a-Country Program for Second Consecutive Year
Sixteen CCSD schools will be paired with countries competing in USA Sevens
For the second consecutive year, USA Sevens Rugby is teaming with Clark County School District (CCSD) for the Adopt-a-Country program in which sixteen schools around the Las Vegas Valley are matched with a nation competing in the USA Sevens International Rugby Tournament Feb. 10-12 at Sam Boyd Stadium.
Students will study their school’s adopted nation in the weeks leading up to the tournament, learning about that country’s geography, culture and people. A variety of additional events will accompany the Adopt-a-Country program, including T-shirt design and critical thinking essay competitions.
“We were thrilled with the success of the Adopt-a-Country program during last year’s USA Sevens,” said Dan Lyle, USA Sevens Tournament Director. “Each participating school showed great enthusiasm for all aspects of the program, and the students’ desire to learn about international cultures was inspiring for our management team.”
“There was no debate on whether to continue this partnership with CCSD,” continued Lyle. “We look forward to seeing the great results from the 2012 Adopt-a-Country program. After conversations with some of the players, we aren’t sure who’s more excited – the players or the students.”
The program provides Las Vegas students with the chance to participate in creative, hands-on activities while learning about international geography, world cultures and the newest Olympic sport, Rugby Sevens. Students will have the opportunity to meet players from their chosen country’s team during onsite pep-rallies the week of the USA Sevens Tournament, participate in youth rugby clinics directed by certified USA Rugby instructors and attend the tournament on Saturday, Feb. 11 as a class field trip.
Students will also have the chance to participate in the student T-shirt contest and critical thinking essay competition as a part of the program. The T-shirt contest challenges children to design a shirt that captures the essence and culture of their competing nation. Each school will select one T-shirt design to represent their entire student body against the 15 other participating schools. An overall winner of the T-shirt contest will be selected by a panel of judges. USA Sevens will produce 200 T-shirts with the winning design and distribute to the winning school.
For the essay contest, students are asked to compare and contrast their nation with Clark County. Each school will determine their own timeline for submission, word minimums and maximums and a contest winner. The essay winner from each school will represent their adopted nation and class in the 2012 USA Sevens Opening Ceremony, taking placed on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 6:30 p.m. on Fremont Street.
“We had a great time partnering with USA Sevens Rugby to bring our students the Adopt-a-Country program last year, and the teachers’ and students’ enthusiasm for the program’s return was very high this year,” said Judy Myers of the Clark County School District School-Community Partnership Program. “It’s an enriching program benefitting both the students and the event.”
2012 School/Team Pairings
- Antonello Elementary School/Canada
- Brown Junior High School/South Africa
- Derfelt Elementary School/New Zealand
- Faiss Middle School/Wales
- H.P. Fitzgerald Elementary School/France
- Heckethorn Elementary School/Fiji
- Roy Martin Middle School/Samoa
- Monaco Middle School/Brazil
- Paradise Elementary School/Uruguay
- Ronzone Elementary School/Australia
- Lewis Rowe Elementary School/Japan
- Saville Middle School/Scotland
- C.P. Squires Elementary School/Kenya
- Glen Taylor Elementary School/United States
- Walker Elementary School/Argentina
- Gibson Leadership Academy/England
About USA Sevens Rugby
The USA Sevens international rugby tournament in Las Vegas is the fifth of nine stops on the 2011-12 HSBC Sevens World Series. The three-day tournament is the only North American stop for the Sevens World Series. The premier rugby tournament in North America, fans will see 16 national teams play 44 matches during the three-day competition in an attempt to gain points in the Sevens World Series standings.
Played on the same size field as traditional 15-player rugby, sevens rugby is played with just seven players per team. Matches have seven minute halves with two minute intervals for pool and knock-out matches. The fast pace and short duration of matches makes every moment of the action thrilling for spectators.
Fans can stay updated on all the latest USA Sevens Rugby news, events and details by following on Facebook (USA Sevens Rugby Tournament And Festival) and Twitter (@USASevensRugby).