Young Athletes run through drills at the Chicago Hounds Open Combine at SeatGeek Stadium Campus Dome.

On Sunday the SeatGeek Stadium Dome and the Chicago Hounds Rugby team, welcomed dozens of athletic hopefuls looking to earn a spot on the Rugby team during the Chicago Hound’s first open tryouts.   Young men from across the Midwest gathered to begin a days’ worth of intense drills and physical assessments designed to evaluate their agility, mobility, and endurance. In order to be successful participants needed to put their individual skill, athletic ability, and teamwork on full display to make a lasting impression on the Chicago Hounds coaching team.  The top performing athletes will receive an invitation to train with the hounds.

Last November Major League Rugby officially announced their expansion into Chicago with the unveiling of their newest franchise the Chicago Hounds. Since then the team has been steadily adding seasoned MLR veterans to the Chicago lineup through various acquisitions, trades and team transactions. In a commitment to identify and develop Rugby talent in the Midwest region the Chicago Hounds hosted the tryouts known as the open combine.

The Hounds will compete in MLR’s Western Conference and will play all their home games at Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium for the 2023 season. The team’s home opener will be held on Sunday, March 5th against the Utah Warriors at 1PM. Single game tickets and season tickets are available and you can find them now via seatgeekstadium.com