It's fast. It's exciting. It's violent.
UF's rugby team is going to Columbus, Ohio, on June 2 to participate in the first USA Sevens' Rugby Collegiate Championship Invitational.
Rugby sevens, a rugby style debuting in the 2016 Summer Olympics, mixes football and soccer, said Noah Walker, UF' rugby club's president.
"It's got a lot of potential to catch on with the explosion of violent sports like MMA and football with its deep-seated fanbase already," Walker said. "People like to watch people hit each other, outrun each other, so I think it's got a great chance of really gaining hold at the national level."
The tournament, which will take place from June 4 to 6, will be broadcast on NBC, NBC Universal Sports and Hulu. The event is also expected to be a prime opportunity to scout talent for the national rugby sevens team, Walker said.
Dan Lyle, a former U.S. rugby team captain and tournament director, said NBC has a history of promoting Olympic sports, and this event should bring rugby to the American public.
"Many of the players playing on the weekend will have a great shot at playing for the USA in 2016 in Rio," Lyle wrote in an e-mail.
The UF squad, as well as the other 15 teams in the tournament, were chosen because they are expected to attract a large audience, said Jim Hinkin, competitions manager for USA Sevens.
"Rugby is closely related to football," he said. "We wanted rivalry schools from good football traditions. That's why we have Florida and Tennessee."
UF's team ended the year ranked 15th by American Rugby News with a 17-2 record. A three-point loss to Tennessee, who is in the same tournament bracket as Florida, kept UF out of the Sweet 16. The teams will meet on June 5.
"Our preparation has been pretty intense," Walker said. "We don't want to look like fools on national television. We don't want to get gassed easily on national TV, so we've been conditioning a lot."
USA Sevens is paying for transportation, food, hotels and other team expenses, which makes the experience even more unbelievable, Walker said.
"There's a lot of excitement," he said. They're treating us like it's an [international] tournament."
