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Georgia
The Rugby Radar
A ball's eye view from the scrum.
Issue 10 / Vol. 2026 / June 30
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📣 Issue 10 • What's Inside
Georgia's clubs hit the summer sevens road at the Vulcan 7s, the home-state Hotlanta 7s looms on July 25, a Fourth-of-July club turns the page in Columbus, and rugby league keeps rolling in Roswell.
Also in this issue:
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Georgia clubs are out on the summer sevens circuit, from the Vulcan 7s in Birmingham to the home-state Hotlanta 7s on July 25, the biggest summer tournament in Georgia. Lead Story below.
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A club founded on the Fourth of July, still rolling 40-plus years on: the Columbus Cruisers. Club Spotlight below.
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Rugby league's Copperheads are back home in Roswell on July 18, vs the Tampa Mayhem. Adult Club Updates below.
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A fresh whisper from Lady Trydown. Whispers below.
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A Quick Word From the Scrum
TEN ISSUES IN
That's right, this is Issue 10. Every Tuesday since the spring, the Radar has covered Georgia rugby end to end: 85-plus clubs and programs, every level from U6 to college, club, and pro, free in your inbox, with no club allegiance and no union politics. Just the whole map of the game in one state. Thank you for reading it.
If the Radar has earned a spot in your week, here is the only birthday present we want: forward this to one rugby friend, or send them the link to subscribe. That is how the map keeps growing.
Share the Radar →
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🏉 Lead Story
GEORGIA'S CLUBS HIT THE SEVENS ROAD, AND HOTLANTA BRINGS IT HOME
Summer is sevens season, and sevens season means miles. The full-field winter game gives way to seven-a-side rugby on shorter rosters and longer drives, and Georgia's clubs are out logging both, crisscrossing the Southeast for a tournament most weekends. The Vulcan 7s in Birmingham already pulled a crowd of Georgia sides on Saturday, June 27, with the Gwinnett Lions and Lady Lions, Atlanta Old White, and the Silver Owls, the Kennesaw State old boys' touring sevens side, all sending squads across the state line. One Georgia side went deep: the Atlanta Harlequins women reached the Vulcan women's final before falling to the host side, Birmingham Steel. And the summer's big one is at home: the Hotlanta 7s in Atlanta on Saturday, July 25, the biggest summer rugby event in Georgia. Between the away trips and the home showpiece, GA sides are using every stop to get sharp.
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The Home Showpiece • Sat July 25 • Atlanta
THE HOTLANTA 7s
The state's marquee summer 7s is back: Men's and Women's, Competitive and Social divisions, USA Rugby sanctioned, one long Saturday of rugby in the Atlanta heat. Whether your club is entering a side or you just want to watch top-level sevens up close, this is the one to circle. Registration is open, and team-entry fees step up after July 1, so any adult side planning to enter should lock it in. The brand's inaugural Hotlanta Youth 7s ran its first year in June, too, so the high school game now has a summer showcase of its own.
Enter or learn more at atlantarugby.com/hotlanta7s.
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Georgia Clubs on Tour
WHO'S LOGGING THE MILES
The summer circuit runs through a string of regional sevens, and Georgia sides are on it. A few tours we are tracking:
Gwinnett Lions and Lady Lions: a multi-stop summer 7s tour, men and women, that runs from the Hotter than Hell in Columbus through the Vulcan 7s in Birmingham and on toward the Hotlanta 7s. gwinnettlionsrfc.com |
Exiles RFC (men): opened their summer at the Cape Fear 7s in Wilmington, NC, going 3-2 in a field of 32 and reaching the knockout rounds. @exilesrugbyclub |
Macon Love: on the road to the Hotlanta 7s (July 25) and the PCB 7s in Panama City Beach, with practice Tuesdays and Thursdays and an every-other-Saturday open touch session at home. @maconloverugby |
Atlanta Women's Premier (women): on the road to Charlotte on Saturday, July 11 to take on Capital Selects, with new players welcome through the club's interest form. @atlwomens_premierrugby |
Women of Old White (WOW): deep into a summer 7s tour of their own, from the Peach Pitch and Vulcan stops to Christmas in July and the Hotlanta 7s on July 25. @wow_atlrugby |
This is a snapshot, not the full grid. Taking your club to a tournament? Tell the Radar and we will track it.
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🏉 Club Spotlight
FOUNDED ON THE FOURTH: THE COLUMBUS CRUISERS
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With the Fourth of July upon us, it is the perfect week to tip the cap to a club that was quite literally born on it. Down in Columbus, the Cruise-A-Matics, a touring sevens side named (proudly, permanently) after a classic car transmission, played their first rugby on July 4, 1983. The Columbus Rugby Club followed on January 17, 1984, and the Cruise-A-Matics name stuck and is known to touring sides clear across the country.
Forty-plus years on, they are still at it, with practice Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 PM, no experience necessary. And they own a real piece of Georgia rugby history: the Hotter than Hell 7s, first run back in 1984 and into its 43rd year in 2026, the longest-running sevens tournament in the state.
A club founded on Independence Day, still rolling. That is the kind of staying power Georgia rugby is built on. columbusfortbenningrugby.weebly.com • @cruisersrugby
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🏉 Summer Play Is Open
OPEN PITCHES ALL OVER THE STATE
Tournaments are the headline, but the real summer story is the open sessions running every week. The barrier is low, the sides are small, and most of what is running welcomes beginners. Find a pitch near you, in the metro or well beyond it.
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Where to play 7s and touch
Exiles RFC (Alpharetta): Community Touch Rugby, Thursdays at 7 PM at Innovation Academy, open to ages 16 to 99, no experience needed, with a club social after. Kids Touch (ages 5 to 12) runs Tuesdays at 6 PM, and senior 7s training carries on through the week. @exilesrugbyclub |
Atlanta Renegades (Dunwoody): summer 7s training Mondays and Wednesdays, 7 to 9 PM at Peachtree Middle School. Competitive and social, all skill levels, new players welcome. @atlrenegadesrfc |
Gwinnett Lions and Lady Lions (Lawrenceville): senior men's and women's training, with open 7s, at Tribble Mill Park. New players welcome. gwinnettlionsrfc.com |
High Country RFC (Atlanta): practice Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7 to 9 PM at Coan Park, men's and women's, all levels, year-round. @highcountrywrfc |
Atlanta Old White (SW Atlanta): summer 7s Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7 to 9 PM at the Old White rugby pitch, 1035 Fairburn Rd SW. Southern Touch, their community touch arm, runs Sundays and Wednesdays, and the two host a joint Fourth of July Field Day and Grill Out, open to everyone, on Saturday, July 4. @atlantarugby |
Beyond the metro: rugby does not stop at the perimeter. The Columbus Cruisers run Tuesdays and Thursdays down south, the Savannah Shamrocks train on the coast, Macon Love is in the middle of the state, the Augusta Maddogs and Augusta Furies are out east, Gainesville RUFC is up north, and the Athens Eagles play out by UGA. If you are anywhere in Georgia, there is a side closer than you think. Find your nearest in the Adult Club directory below. |
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🏉 Adult Club Updates
RUGBY LEAGUE COMES HOME TO ROSWELL
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Rugby league (the 13-a-side code) is building a summer in Atlanta, and the building is the hard part. At home on Saturday, June 27, the Atlanta Copperheads ran into a clinical Jacksonville Axemen side and fell 78-0, a steep reminder that a first season in a brand-new code is a climb. They get another crack on home turf on Saturday, July 18, hosting the Tampa Mayhem, with an away trip to the Sarasota Bullsharks the week before. The home dates are free and family-friendly, an easy way to see a faster, more open game up close.
The club is still recruiting for the summer season and trains Tuesdays and Fridays at 6:30 PM at Roswell Area Park, open to players from any union or gridiron background. copperheadsrlfc.com • @copperheadsrlfc
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🏕 Summer Development
TWO SUMMER CAMPS STILL TAKING NAMES
The players who come back better in September are usually the ones who kept touching a ball over the summer. Two Georgia camps are open for registration, one for the youngest beginners, one for girls ready to step up.
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Jul 6 to 10 • 9 AM to 1 PM • Roswell Area Park • Ages 5 to 14
REBELS SUMMER SKILLS & DRILLS CAMP
A week of rugby, games, and fun for ages 5 to 14, all skill levels, beginners included. Ball handling, kicking and bag drills, development and scrimmages, with certified coaches and special guest drop-ins. Registration is open through the City of Roswell. A great first step for a younger player, or a tune-up before the fall season. Register here.
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Jul 23 to 29 • Marietta • Girls 13 to 17
LIFE UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S GIRLS SUMMER RESIDENCY
For girls who want a real step up, Life University's women's program is running a residential development camp on its Marietta campus, July 23 to 29, for ages 13 to 17 at all skill levels. Technical and tactical work, strength, and leadership, with on-campus housing and meals, led by Director Ryszard Chadwick, a World Rugby Coach Educator, alongside current Life U players.
Residency $1,500 or commuter $850. Register through HomeTown Ticketing; questions to Director Ryszard Chadwick at ryszard.chadwick@life.edu. Details at liferunningeagles.com.
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🎓 College Corner
OFFSEASON, BUT THE PLANNING NEVER STOPS
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Georgia's college spring seasons have wrapped and summer is quiet on the field, but the real recruiting window is almost here. When students land on campus in August, most college rugby clubs set up at the student activities fair, the club-rush tables where the majority of college players actually sign up, no experience required. UGA, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State, UNG, and Life University all take walk-ons that way every fall. Life University Women, off a national-title spring, also run a summer girls' residency in Marietta, July 23 to 29 (see Summer Development above). If your player is heading to one of these schools, the move is simple: find the rugby table in week one.
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Recruiting tool: collegerugbyportal.com is free, lists 900-plus college programs (men's and women's, D1 through club), and lets players filter by state and message coaches directly. Treat listings as a starting point and confirm details with the school.
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🏆 Tournament Watch
WHAT'S COMING
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Sat Jul 18, Atlanta Copperheads vs the Tampa Mayhem, Roswell Area Park. Rugby league at home, free and family-friendly. (They are away at Sarasota the Saturday before.)
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Sat Jul 25, Hotlanta 7s (senior), Atlanta. The state's biggest summer 7s, registration open and fees stepping up after July 1 (the full story is in the Lead above). atlantarugby.com/hotlanta7s
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Sat Aug 15, Shamrock 7s, Daffin Park, Savannah. The coast's summer sevens, hosted by the Savannah Shamrocks. Registration open.
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Looking ahead, registration is open: Greer Christmas 7s (December 5-6, Greer SC). The big winter high school showcase, Boys and Girls divisions, that Georgia sides travel up for every year. Spots fill fast, so any club planning a December trip should lock it in early through the City of Greer.
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💬 Whispers from the Touchline
Lady Trydown
The anonymous dispatch on Georgia rugby. All rumor, all hearsay, all in good fun.
Dearest Reader,
The pitches bake, the schedule thins, and into all that idle summer air rushes the one commodity Georgia rugby never lacks: opinion. This Author has been listening, as is her custom, with the windows open.
On the art of acquisition. There is a certain breed of ambitious club that does not so much develop a player as adopt one, fully grown, ideally a fortnight before anything of consequence. The team sheet shifts faster than the forecast. This Author levels no accusation, naturally. She merely observes that talent, rather like a covered dish at a parish supper, has a way of arriving precisely when it is wanted, from a kitchen no one present will quite claim.
On the undefeated season. To read certain feeds, one would think the trophy cabinet could scarcely be coaxed shut. The reels are immaculate, the captions positively Churchillian. It is only upon the Saturday, that unsentimental and frankly rude arbiter, that a club's record and its marketing are at last introduced to one another. They are not, this Author regrets to report, always on speaking terms.
On governance. She is reliably informed of a committee that convenes rather more often than its side trains, and disputes with considerably more venom. There is no ruck so bitterly contested as an agenda item, no tackle so high as a point of order. One does admire the devotion. One merely wonders whether the pitch itself might enjoy a portion of that splendid attendance.
On the eternal rebuild. And to the gallant side forever in its rebuilding year, now some three summers into the foundations: at a certain point, dearest, the building is simply the house, and one must either invite the guests in or concede there was never to be a party. This Author waits, with the patience of a saint and the notebook of a sinner, for the grand unveiling.
xo, Lady Trydown
Need to get something off your chest? Whisper it to Lady Trydown: Email Lady Trydown • @LadyTrydown on Instagram. All sources remain anonymous. Obviously.
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🎓 Train Up
GET CERTIFIED
Every club needs more refs and more coaches. The course calendar moves week to week, so the surest path is to check the USA Rugby Learning Center via Rugby Xplorer, where Level 1 Coach and Level 1 Assistant Referee courses are also offered fully online and can be done any time. GA Youth Rugby reimburses certification costs for active referees and coaches, so the only thing between you and a badge is the sign-up. And there is good news close to home, below.
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Maybe closer to home: there is talk of a Level 1 Coach course coming to the Atlanta area, though nothing is confirmed yet. If it firms up, we will share the details the moment they are official.
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📅 Mark Your Calendars
DATES THAT MATTER
🏆 Tournament 🏕 Camp 🏉 Club program
| 🏉 Tue Jun 30 • Rebels Final Touch Tuesday & Grill Out, 7 PM, Roswell Area Park. Free, all ages, last of the summer series. |
| 🏉 Thursdays (weekly) • Exiles Community Touch Rugby, 7 PM, Innovation Academy, Alpharetta. Ages 16-99, no experience. |
| 🏉 Sat Jul 4 • Southern Touch + Atlanta Old White 4th of July Field Day & Grill Out, open to all. Gates 11:30 AM, touch 12-2 PM. |
| 🏕 Jul 6-10 • Rebels Summer Skills & Drills Camp, Roswell Area Park. Ages 5-14, 9 AM to 1 PM, registration open. |
| 🏉 Sat Jul 11 • Atlanta Women's Premier Rugby at Capital Selects, Charlotte NC. Georgia women's side on the road. |
| 🏆 Sat Jul 18 • Atlanta Copperheads vs Tampa Mayhem, Roswell Area Park. Rugby league at home, come watch. |
| 🏕 Jul 23-29 • Life U Women's Girls Summer Residency, Marietta. Girls 13-17. |
| 🏆 Sat Jul 25 • Hotlanta 7s (senior), Atlanta. The state's biggest summer 7s. Registration open, come watch. |
| 🏆 Sat Aug 15 • Shamrock 7s, Daffin Park, Savannah. Registration open. |
| 🏉 Sat Sep 12 • Rebels Open House, Roswell. Fall-season kickoff, come try rugby. |
| 🏉 Sat Oct 3 • Rebels on Parade, Roswell 76th Youth Day, 8 AM. Whole club marches, all ages. |
Looking further ahead: Greer Christmas 7s, Dec 5-6, Greer SC (registration open).
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Sponsored • Community Partner
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Rebels Rugby Youth GA
Every kid belongs on the pitch.
U6 to U18 coed • Greater Roswell, GA
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Final Touch Tuesday & Grill Out, Tuesday, June 30, 7 PM, Roswell Area Park (Field MS-1). The last free drop-in of the summer Touch series, all ages and abilities, with a cookout and a raffle to send it off.
Summer Skills & Drills Camp, July 6 to 10, 9 AM to 1 PM. Ages 5 to 14, all abilities, certified coaches. Registration open. A great first step, or a tune-up before the fall season. rebelsrugbyga.com.
Looking ahead: Rebels Open House, Saturday, September 12 (the fall season starts here), plus Rebels on Parade at Roswell's 76th Youth Day, Saturday, October 3 at 8 AM. The whole club marches, all ages, U6 to high school.
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A Thought, Planted
WHAT IF GEORGIA PICKED A DAY FOR TRY RUGBY?
Clubs around the state are already lining up fall open houses. So here is a daydream, no committee, no pressure, just an idea worth saying out loud: what if every club in Georgia picked one Saturday in the fall and threw its gates open together? One Try Rugby Day from the mountains to the coast, where anyone curious could walk onto a pitch for the first time and find a side waiting. We are not organizing it. We are just saying it would be something. If your club likes the sound of it, you know where to find us.
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🏉 New to Rugby?
FIND A YOUTH CLUB
Boys, girls, all ages. Every club below welcomes beginners. No experience needed.
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🎓 Heading to College?
FIND A GA COLLEGE TEAM
Georgia colleges with active rugby. Men's, women's, both. Most are club-level and welcome beginners. If your player is heading to one of these schools, the rugby team is a way in, and most are recruiting for the fall right now, so reach out over the summer. (And for the full national picture, see the College Rugby Portal callout above.)
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🏉 Still Playing After 18?
FIND AN ADULT CLUB
Men's and women's clubs across the state. And rugby in Georgia is not just metro Atlanta: there are sides in Augusta, Columbus, Macon, Gainesville, Athens, and beyond. Whether you played in college, played as a kid, or never touched a ball, there's a squad for you.
Featured Club Listing
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ATLANTA COPPERHEADS RLFC
Rugby league has come to Atlanta.
Open men's & women's (13-a-side) • Roswell Area Park
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At home Saturday, July 18, vs the Tampa Mayhem. Recruiting now for the summer season. Training Tuesdays & Fridays, 6:30 PM at Roswell Area Park. Open to players from any union or gridiron background. Details at copperheadsrlfc.com.
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| Atlanta Copperheads RLFC • Roswell • Rugby league, men's & women's • Tue/Fri 6:30 PM copperheadsrlfc.com |
| Atlanta Old White RFC • Atlanta • Men D2/D3, Women, 7s atlantarugby.com |
| Atlanta Harlequins Women's RFC • Atlanta • Women's D1 • Only D1 women's team in the Southeast @ahwrfc |
| Atlanta 2.0 Selects • Marietta • Women's • Mon/Wed 7 PM, new players welcome @2.0selects |
| Atlanta Women's Premier Rugby • Atlanta • Women's • New players welcome, interest form in bio @atlwomens_premierrugby |
| Atlanta Renegades RFC • Atlanta • Men's • Summer 7s atlantarenegades.com |
| Exiles RFC • Alpharetta • Senior men's and women's • Tue/Thu 7 PM, Innovation Academy @exilesrugbyclub |
| Gwinnett Lions RFC • Lilburn • Men, Women • Open 7s Thu, Tribble Mill Park gwinnettlionsrfc.com |
| Atlanta Bucks RFC • Atlanta • Gay and inclusive club • Mon/Wed 7:30 PM @atlantabucksrfc |
| High Country RFC • Atlanta • Men's, Women's • Hosts Peach Pitch • Practice Tue/Thu, Coan Park @highcountrywrfc |
| Athens Eagles RFC • Athens • Men's & Women's, est. 2008 athensrugby.org |
| Macon Love RFC • Macon • Practice Tue/Thu 6:30 PM @maconloverugby |
| Columbus Cruisers RFC • Columbus • Men's • Hosts Hotter than Hell 7s • Tue/Thu 7 PM @cruisersrugby |
| Gainesville RUFC • Gainesville, GA • Est. 2017 @gainesvillerufc |
| Augusta Maddogs RFC • Augusta • Men's • Practice Tue/Thu 6:30 PM @augustarugby |
| Augusta Furies • Augusta • Women's • Practice Tue/Thu 6-7:30 PM @augusta.furies |
| Savannah Shamrocks RFC • Savannah • Men's, Women's • Hosts Shamrock 7s rugbysavannah.com |
More Georgia clubs: georgiarugby.org/clubs
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No club allegiance. No union politics. No hype. Just every level of Georgia rugby, U6 to pro, 85 clubs and programs tracked, free every week.
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THE RUGBY RADAR
A ball's eye view from the scrum.
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therugbyradar.com • @therugbyradar • @LadyTrydown
Issue 10 • June 30, 2026 • © 2026 The Rugby Radar
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