With the Rugby 7s season about to kick-off in Queensland, the Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) have today announced the introduction of the Charlotte Caslick Cup, which will see Women’s Queensland Premier 7s W teams and regional teams compete across both domestic 7s events and the Queensland Sevens State Championships at Noosa.
Beginning with the Gold Coast Sevens at Bond University on 22 October, teams will compete across three events also including the Bris Vegas 7s at Wests Bulldogs Rugby Club and culminating with the Queensland 7s State Championships, which will take place at Noosa Dolphins Rugby Club on the Sunshine Coast on the weekend of 12 and 13 November.
Queensland Premier Rugby Clubs including Wests, University of Queensland, Bond University, Easts, Souths and Sunnybank will compete, as well as regional representative teams from the Sunshine Coast and Darling Downs.
“It’s pretty cool to have a trophy named after you, it is early in my career, it’s not something I expected but I’m definitely humbled,” said Caslick.
“I love Sevens and grassroots Rugby so I’m happy to support this great initiative from Queensland Rugby and I hope it’s a success.
“It’s a credit to the likes of Reg Tayler and Lachlan Parkinson as well as Queensland Rugby. People like Felicity Bennetts at Wests have been the backbone of grassroots Sevens for so many years and to see the clubs working with Queensland Rugby to build upon existing domestic tournaments, it will only help the Aussie 7s program and we have seen so many Queensland players come through club Rugby into the Queensland Academy of Sport program and then excel in the national program.
“I’m a passionate Queensland girl and I love the fact there has been so much support for Sevens in Queensland and I love seeing so many girls come through the pathway.”
QAS 7s Academy head coach Reg Tayler said: “It’s exciting to introduce the Charlotte Caslick Cup in recognition of one of our Queensland Sevens stars in Charlotte, while also providing some further structure to the Queensland Sevens circuit.
“It’s no secret that Queensland has been a hot bed of talent for the Australian Women’s Sevens side, with more than 50% of the current squad, who have won the World Series, Commonwealth Games Gold and the Sevens World Cup this year, hailing from Queensland.
“We want to provide a pathway at the grassroots level that will help develop the next generation of Rugby Sevens talent.
“Thanks to the Queensland Academy of Sport and their ongoing support, we’ve been able to help develop players to ensure they’re ready to step into the Aussie 7s set up, and the Charlotte Caslick Cup will help us identify players to bring into the QAS system.
“We didn’t want to detract from the outstanding work members of the grassroots Rugby community have done to set up events such as the Gold Coast Sevens and Bris Vegas 7s, so it is great to partner with them and work collaboratively to provide players with further opportunities.
“It’s also special to see two of our regional sub-unions in the Darling Downs and Sunshine Coast take part in the tournament and will be a great spectacle to see some of the players from the Country ranks play against the Brisbane based Premier teams,” said Tayler.
Whilst Women will have the opportunity to contest the Charlotte Caslick Cup, Men’s Sevens players will also have the opportunity to play for silverware, with the Premier Rugby Clubs and regional teams competing at the Queensland Sevens State Championships contesting the Chucky Stannard Cup, named after the former Australian Men’s 7s captain.
The men’s division at the State Championships will include – Norths, Souths, Easts, Wests, University of Queensland, Bond University and Sunnybank, while regional teams from Sunshine Coast, Darling Downs and Townsville will also compete.
“There is a lot to look forward to in the Sevens space in the near future, with another Olympics in Paris in 2024, followed by the Commonwealth Games in 2026 which will take place in Victoria. Brisbane is obviously also set to host the Olympics in 2032, which is a great opportunity for the youngest of our playing cohort to aspire too,” added Tayler.
