There are two basic requirements for a Schools' Sevens competition. One is that the participants are schools and the other is that there should be seven players in the team. An infringement of either condition would appear to nullify the title.
However, no less a competition than the "National Schools Sevens" - widely known by the association with Rosslyn Park Rugby Club - though it has been quite some time since the finals were played there - is apparently unconcerned with these qualifications. The participation of educational institutions quite unlike schools is apparently welcomed by the organisers - though rarely by the participants who meet the widely agreed definition of being "schools".
Justifiably proud of its status as the "world's biggest Sevens tournament", its size has been inappropriately swelled by the presence of AASE colleges. These are simply not schools. This is not a perjorative assessment. Simply a fact of identity. And as inappropriate in a Schools Sevens event as having eight players in a team. It just doesn't fit the stated criteria.
This is one of the factors that has left the National Schools' Sevens struggling with its competition format in recent years. Since the categorisation of the Open and Festival was rightly accepted as obsolete, attempts to find a replacement have foundered. The idea of separating two competitions on the grounds of standard is entirely sound. However, a category of "Emerging" is hardly appropriate for some of the country's longest established exponents of the game.
Is there an answer? Certainly. Would it find universal agreement? Almost certainly not.
However, a simple division of an A and a B tournament (as those with long memories will remember from the late lamented Oxford Competition), would provide an obvious distinction. This would clarify that the distinction is entirely on the grounds of playing standard, not of some subjective assessment of whether or not a school has "emerged" into the game. Whilst it would be ideal if schools provided this assessment themselves, the organisers would justly reserve the right to re-assign any school that was not felt to be in the appropriate competition. Such a structure would bring Sevens into line with the major XV a side event, the NatWest Cup.
The A competition could be made more desirable as a schools' contest by being confined to - schools! This definition is not difficult to achieve. A separate competition for FE colleges, or AASE institutions might be added, if that was felt appropriate. It would, however, be properly separate from the schools' event. A contest between the winners of each event might be included in the Twickenham Sevens, instead of the rather unsatisfactory re-run of the previous final, which took place last year.
Whatever resistance the organisers might have to this structure is misguided. A schools' competition should reflect the best interests of the participants. The current event does not achieve that. The time has come for change.
