OUR 10 YEAR STORY
CREATING INSPIRING RUGBY EXPERIENCES SINCE 2017
The idea behind the Tropical 7s first came about in 2009 when rugby was reinstated as an Olympic Sport for the first time since 1924. This time it would be the turn of the more exciting and more accessible ‘7s’ format of the game which featured for the first time at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and earmarked to grow the game more globally.
A number of potential sites in the Central Florida region were assessed and The Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate was chosen with its 8-field sports complex and its close proximity to many of Orlando’s world famous attractions. By the time the Rio 2016 Olympics rolled around , the Tropical 7s had been fully conceived and formally launched at World Rugby's Congress: a premium rugby 7s festival targeted at youth age groups combining both a rugby and a vacation experience right in the heart of Central Florida.
The inaugural edition of the Tropical 7s took place in 2017, featuring just 25 teams across 5 age-grade divisions. The tournament's debut received great a response from the small number of teams that played which featured both the USA and Canada U18 national girls teams (including 2025 World Player of the Year, Sophie De Goede) and included a boys team from England, highlighting the potential appeal for the tournament among international teams.
The 2017 event also showcased Tropical 7s as an ideal training camp venue: teams were given field access in the days leading up to the tournament, coaching sessions were delivered by former South African ‘Springbok’ stars and an Athlete Combine focussed specifically on rugby 7s skills and physical attributes was introduced.
The following year, the 2018 Tropical 7s saw the tournament double in size with 50 participating teams, expanding from 5 to 9 divisions and attracting a larger number of international teams including a number of teams from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. The tournament featured its first side from Africa, the Zambezi Steelers, travelling over 8000 miles from Zimbabwe to take the U18 Boys title and the Toronto Elite Reds (Canada) won the U18 Girls division, underlying the tournament’s growing international credentials. Chloe Daniels (pictured below) palying at Tropical 7s with Tsunami Misfits would go on to win a silver Olympic medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
By 2019, Tropical 7s had doubled in size again with over 1500 registered players representing 110 teams across 11 divisions from U14 up to U23. Almost half of all team entries were from outside the US and featured almost as many girls teams as boys sides, evidence of the continued global growth of the girls game. Tropical 7s was also included as part of the North American High School 7s Series (NAHS7s), featuring a number of elite North American academies which cemented the tournament's reputation as a showcase for emerging rugby talent. Atlantis Rugby took both the U18 Boys and U18 Girls titles while the U23/University divisions continued to develop more traction with Rugby Quebec (Canada) and Life University (USA) taking the Mens and Women’s U23 titles respectively. The 2019 Tropical 7s also saw the launch of a referee coaching programme, a Talent ID programme featuring national selectors from USA Rugby and Rugby Canada as well as a number of US college scouts along with an enhanced Athlete Combine which was delivered in partnership with USA Weightlifting.
The stage was set for the 2020 Tropical 7s with over 130 teams registered for the tournament and our largest entry of international teams. But to the diappointment of organizers and teams alike, the event had to be cancelled as a result of the COVID pandemic just a matter of weeks before the start of the event. The cancellation was a huge disappointment for everyone involved but the response of the Tropical 7s community ensured that the tournament would return at the earliest opportunity.
The 2021 Tropical 7s was a triumph in the face of uncertainty. Tropical 7s was the first nation-wide youth rugby tournament in the USA to return in the wake of the global pandemic. While travel restrictions prevented international teams from attending, the tournament secured its largest number of US teams to date, with close to 60 teams competing across 6 divisions. The event was warmly welcomed by the US rugby community after such a long break. Later that same year, Keyara Wardley, who featured for the U18 Canada Girls team at the inaugural Tropical 7s in 2017, would take to the field at the Tokyo Olympics, marking the journey of the first Tropical 7s player to compete at an Olympic Games.
In 2022, Tropical 7s entered an exciting new chapter as the tournament moved from its original venue in Orlando to the 15-field Tournament Sportsplex of Tampa Bay. The first year in Tampa proved to be a true mega-event, with record-setting participation levels and the addition of an exciting U12 mixed coed division.
Returning to Tampa, the 2023 Tropical 7s was yet another record-breaking year, with 172 registered teams competing across 14 divisions, making Tropical 7s the largest youth rugby event in North America. The tournament also saw as many girls’ teams as boys’ teams and welcomed teams from New Zealand for the first time.
The 2024 Tropical 7s delivered another record-breaking year, with 209 registered teams across a record 18 divisions, including the introduction of senior men’s and women’s divisions for the first time. The tournament also welcomed teams from Australia for the first time. All 609 matches from the 2024 event were live-streamed, another first for Tropical 7s. Later that summer, Chloe Daniels, Piper Logan and Keyara Wardley became the first Tropical 7s alumni to win Olympic medals, claiming silver with Canada at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In 2025, Tropical 7s further cemented its place as the #1 rugby festival in North America, with 211 registered teams across 16 divisions and more than 2,500 players competing from U12 through to adult age grades. For the first time, the number of female teams surpassed the number of male teams at the tournament. Later that year, Sophie De Goede, who lifted our first U18 girls trophy at Tropical 7s in our inaugural year in 2017, would be named as World Player of the Year following standout performances for Canada at the Rugby World Cup in England.
The 2026 Tropical 7s marked another record-breaking year, with 230 registered teams competing across 17 divisions. The event continued to expand opportunities for girls’ rugby with the introduction of a new U12 Girls division, further strengthening the tournament’s commitment to providing meaningful competition pathways for both male and female players. The 2026 tournament also introduced a studio-style live show for the first time, bringing a new broadcast dimension to the event and showcasing Tropical 7s to a global audience through World Rugby’s RugbyPass TV online platform.
We are looking forward to welcoming everyone back to Florida in March 2027, as Tropical 7s celebrates its 10-year anniversary.
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