The Rugby Radar, Georgia

Nobody drives to a polo club in Canton in late July for a scoreboard. You go for the day itself: three fields running at once, a DJ on the pitch, and more than sixty matches of sevens between morning check-in and the evening whistle. The 16th Hotlanta 7s, Saturday, July 25 at Union Hill Polo Club, pulled sides from at least seven states, and the day told its story in the small stuff. Macon Love rode up with the Athens Eagles on a road trip billed as "PACKED with LOVE." The Atlanta Harlequins folded guest players into their squad for the day, "I had so much fun," one posted afterward. And the Copperheads set up a booth, in their words, "so we can engage with the entire rugby community."

The silverware, for the record: Apex flipped the final on the host side 21-10 after Atlanta Old White had swept the round robin, Phoenix Rugby 7s took the women's competitive bracket 42-7 over Raleigh Venom and booked a ticket to nationals, Clamdigger Selects came from behind for the men's social title, 21-14, "feelings were felt," and Atlanta 2.0 Selects took third in the women's competitive draw and the whole women's social division in the same afternoon.

For some it was the summer's last dance, and the Silver Owls said it best: "Last tournament. Last rodeo. One last ride." The Renegades, Exiles RFC, Lanier 7s on both the men's and women's sides, the KSU Peglegs, and the Gwinnett Lady Lions all put boots on the grass beside travelers from Birmingham to New Orleans, a snapshot and never the whole team sheet. The day ended the way these days should, with a community photo album filling up all afternoon and everyone welcome at Hyde Brewing in Milton.