The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be either a single game, a series of games, or a tournament, and may use a single-elimination system or one of several other different playoff formats. Playoff, in regard to international fixtures, is to qualify or progress to the next round of a competition or tournament.
College rugby, more specifically rugby union, is played throughout universities in the United States of America. Between 2004 and 2010, rugby was the fastest growing sport in the United States when its popularity increased by roughly 350% .. College rugby is governed by USA Rugby, and does not fall under the auspices of the NCAA, with the exception of 27 NCAA women's programs. Women's rugby has been classified as an NCAA Emerging Sport since 2002.
The FA Women's National League, formerly WFA National League and FA Women's Premier League (WPL), is a group of six football divisions run by the English Football Association. Founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, the League included England's top division from 1991 to 2010.
A wild card is a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that fails to qualify in the normal way; for example, by having a high ranking or winning a qualifying stage. In some events, wildcards are chosen freely by the organizers. Other events have fixed rules. Some North American professional sports leagues compare the records of teams which did not qualify directly by winning a division or conference.
The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The intercollegiate athletics logo was commissioned in 1983.
The UCF Knights are the athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I as a member of the American Athletic Conference. UCF was invited to join the Big 12 Conference on September 10, 2021, and accepted the invitation later that day. The American Athletic Conference announced on June 10, 2022 that UCF had been approved for an early exit of the conference following the 2022-23 season, permitting them to enter the Big 12 Conference for the 2023-24 season. Since men's soccer is not sponsored by the Big 12, they will play in the Sun Belt Conference beginning in 2023.
Sports in the Washington, D.C. area include major league sports teams, popular college sports teams, and a variety of other team and individual sports. The Washington metropolitan area is also home to several major sports venues including Capital One Arena, RFK Stadium, FedExField, Audi Field, and Nationals Park.
In the United States, sports are televised on various broadcast networks, national and specialty sports cable channels, and regional sports networks. U.S. sports rights are estimated to be worth a total of $22.42 billion in 2019, about 44 percent of the total worldwide sports media market. U.S. networks are willing to pay a significant amount of money for television sports contracts because it attracts large amounts of viewership; live sport broadcasts accounted for 44 of the 50 list of most watched television broadcasts in the United States in 2016.
Division 1-A Rugby is the highest level of college rugby within the United States and is administered by USA Rugby. Division 1-A rugby is modeled after NCAA athletic competitions, with the 67 D1-A rugby schools divided into eight conferences: East, Mid-South, Rocky Mountain, California, Big Ten, Liberty, Red River, and PAC.
The USA Rugby Women's Premier League is the top annual American women's rugby union competition. It is player-run and operates in partnership with USA Rugby. It involves the top 10 clubs in the country. The league was founded in 2009.
The 2019 WPL Rugby Season was the eleventh season of the Women's Premier League Rugby. Life West Gladiatrix made their WPL debut and joined the West Conference and Chicago North Shore moved to the East Conference.
The 2009 Women's Premier League Rugby season was the inaugural season of the Women's Premier League in the United States. It began on September 6 and involved eight teams.
The 2009 Women's Premier League Rugby Final was held in San Francisco, California from November 6-8. New York R. C. were the eventual winners with Berkeley All Blues as runners-up in the Cup competition.
The Berkeley All Blues are a women's rugby union club based in Berkeley, California. They were founded in 1978 and are founding members of the Women's Premier League Rugby. They field three teams throughout the year, in the WPL, Division II, and in Sevens. The All Blues have won a total of 16 National Championships, they include the 2011 and 2012 Women's Premier League Championships and the 2011 and 2013 Women's Club 7s National Championships.
The San Diego Surfers Women's Rugby Club is a women's rugby union club based in San Diego, California. They were founded in 1975 as an amateur club and have been members of the Women's Premier League Rugby (WPL) since 2011, when the team earned promotion from Division I. The Surfers field three teams throughout the year, one each in the WPL, Division I, and in Sevens.
Jan Rutkowski is a former American rugby union player. She was part of the United States team that won the inaugural 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup. She was also in the 1994 squad that were runners-up to England.
The 2010 Women's Premier League Rugby season was the second season of the Women's Premier League in the United States. It began on September 11 and involved eight teams.
The 2011 Women's Premier League Rugby season was the third season of the Women's Premier League in the United States. It began on September 10 and involved eight teams.
The 2013 Women's Premier League Rugby season was the fifth season of the Women's Premier League in the United States. It began on September 8 and involved eight teams.
The 2014 Women's Premier League Rugby season was the sixth season of the Women's Premier League in the United States. It began on September 13 and involved eight teams.
