The Growth of 7v7 is Continuing to Explode
Well, that was quick! In our books the official 7v7 season starts March 1st. This marks the first month of events and the beginning of a fun filled spring/summer. The substantial growth of 7v7 has been easy to monitor with events filling quick and many new teams attending. Out of the first five events, only minimal space is left. Not to mention the size of these tournaments has increased as well! Availability of events has helped a ton with having a tournament almost every weekend from March – July this year. Here is a breakdown of each event and the progress they have made from last year.
Wild Wild West 3/16-3/17 – Hosted by Apex Air and Nebraska SELECT 7EVEN
Wild Wild West has always been previously hosted by Iowa 7v7 Football, and it has always been one of our most exciting tournaments. It has grown over the years to be a decently sized event with a lot of teams coming out of Nebraska to play on the border. This offseason Iowa 7v7 Football made the change to not host these “smaller” events anymore and just stick to the Back 2 Ballin and State events. We wanted this event to continue to be available and successful, so we reach out to Russ Fairfield with Apex Air. They had shown interest in hosting a spring event, but by the time we got everything together their local facilities were rented out in Des Moines. Apex Air decided to run with the event and host the Wild Wild West, and also later decided to partner with Darren Petersen and Nebraska SELECT 7EVEN. Darren brought the insight and connections from Omaha to this event and together they have turned it into something great. This event has gone from 25 teams to a whopping 47 teams in 2024. This is nearly double the prior years attendance numbers! There are many new teams stemming from the area including: Elkhorn Storm, Alliance Hawks, and Bolt Boys. We are extremely excited to see how this tournament goes this year and what it will do in the future.
NE Battle for the Monarch Crown 3/30 – Hosted by Nebraska 7v7 Football
The Papillion La Vista Monarch’s Coach Tim Williams is making a splash in Omaha NE with a brand new 7v7 tournament scheduled for March 30th. The tournament is the NE Battle for the Monarch Crown Midwest HS Invitational 7v7. This event is being helped by Tank with Nebraska 7v7 Football, our close partner. Nebraska 7v7 Football is doing exactly what we want them to, continue to grow the game and develop new organization/teams within Nebraska. Nebraska 7v7 Football follows their promise to improve 7v7 football in Nebraska. NE teams and border state teams are encouraged to throw a team together and compete in this one-day thriller. Few spots remain! Don’t worry about the details, you’ll get better and better with the reps. Come and play to win! Sign up at www.nebraska7v7football.org.
Sioux Center Spectacular 3/30 – Hosted by American State Bank Sports Complex
This event is something that happened out of the curiosity of Cole with Iowa 7v7 Football. Trent Roose with American State Bank Sports Complex had reached out in the fall of 2023 in regards to having Iowa 7v7 Football rent out their new facility. This was an association of Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa and they were looking to get some football in there. 7v7 football has become known around the state, and he was wanting a way into the mix. Originally IA 7v7 declined due to the facility being 5 hours away from the office. However, after considering what Iowa 7v7 Football could start offering potential event hosts, Cole decided to talk to Trent about the facility potentially hosting an event. They would bring the staff and event space, and Cole would bring his connections to the 7v7 world and expertise in the game. This offering would allow new facilities and organizations to get involved without the struggle of starting from scratch; they could be eased into the 7v7 platform. The original goal for this event on Easter weekend was 20 teams on only Saturday, but the booming interest caused an addition of Friday evening and a total of 34 teams. This is an incredible number for a first year event with limited connections to the 7v7 world. Sioux Center Spectacular marks the start of a new path of Iowa 7v7 Football, expanding events to hosts that are new to the game by offering our services to help plan and manage them. We can’t wait to hear the feedback from the event host along with teams attending this new facility!
O’Town Showdown 4/6-4/7 – Hosted by Nebraska SELECT 7EVEN
The theme of this 7v7 season is “double”. We see a newer 7v7 organization in Nebraska SELECT 7EVEN ran by Darren Petersen come to us in 2023 and already double in size the following year to 10 total teams while his event doubles in size as well. O’Town Showdown is a tournament that offers teams near Omaha to play, while also being close enough to Iowa to attract teams as well. They went from 27 teams in 2023 (already impressive for a first year event) to now 54 teams and counting! Darren has shown that he is dedicated to the expansion of 7v7 football while developing more youth in Omaha. He also has pulled off an amazing feat in being able to rent out the University of Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium for his Mid America Regionals event June 1-2. Some new teams that have been introduced to these events are: Elkhorn and Team Colorado. These events will be great and we are thrilled to see what the future holds for the organization.
Back 2 Ballin High 4/13-4/14 – Hosted by Iowa 7v7 Football
Our annual event has done nothing but impress us year after year. The amount of interest in this event is crazy; this year we had over 70 teams wanting to attend with us being only able to hold 48. We are hopeful that the new facility will be finished in town so we can hold more next year! This is the premiere event in Iowa and is bursting at the seams. We have new and returning teams coming this year along with some new scouting / college coaching interest. Some new teams this year we want to highlight are: Potenza Sports, KC Elite, and Soljahs. Back 2 Ballin High is at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa and the support from Cedar Falls Tourism and Cedar Valley Sports Commission has been great as always. We truly couldn’t put these events on without the support from everyone involved. Please consider checking out this Real Fun Football event!!!