Come see why three players interviewed and profiled by Rugby Magazine listed the Harrisburg 7's as their favorite rugby tournament!

Twenty First Annual
Harrisburg's 7's Rugby Tournament

Saturday June 30, 2007
Fort Indiantown Gap, Annville, PA 17003

Questions or Concerns
Larry Sweger
717-215-0771
larsweger@harrisburgrugby.com

Men's, Women's, U19 Boys, and U19 Girls brackets!

2007 Tournament Entry Form

Safety Information

2007 Tournament Entry Form with PayPal

History

2007 Tournament Directions

2006 Tournament Results

2007 Tournament Welcome Information
(Brackets and Schedule)

All Time Records

2007 Tournament Sponsorship Form

Fort Indiantown Gap Information

2007 Tournament Program

Hotels and Motels



Safety Information

MARFU Adverse Weather Policy

Lightning Safety

Fort Indiantown Gap Weather Forecast

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21 Year History of the Harrisburg 7's Tournament

  • Established in 1987, the Harrisburg Sevens Tournament was established by a committee to encourage sevens rugby at the grass roots level.

  • The first tournament was an eight team event held at Penn State, Harrisburg on the Middletown Pitch. In order to promote local sevens the fixture was set for the last Saturday in June to coincide with the Washington Sevens. The desire of the committee was to gather local teams not the elite teams competing for the national championship. To attract local teams the committee offered reasonable prices for entry fees, t-shirts, food & other concessions. Numerous trophies and plaques would be presented to the top four teams as well as the winners of each consolation bracket. Tournament winners would get a large trophy and double their entry fee, and runner-up would get their entry fee returned. The pitches were full sized. Referees were by invitation only and would be enticed to the tournament by offering numerous perks for expenses.

  • In 1988 the tournament moved to Shank Park in Hershey for three years, and expanded to 16 teams.

  • In 1991 the Harrisburg Sevens Tournament was held at the New Cumberland Army Depot.

  • Since 1992 Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation has become the site for the Harrisburg Sevens.

  • A women's bracket was added in 1994. The tournament has hosted 16 women sides and 20 men sides over the past few years.

  • The first U19 bracket was added for boys in 2005. In 2006 a bracket for U19 girls was added and the number of U19 teams expanded to twelve; six boys and six girl’s teams.

  • There is promise of the Army building a couple more fields in 2008, which should allow for more teams to participate in the tournament. In recent years the club as turned away many late entry teams, as many as 11, as a result of lack of fields and daylight.

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2006 Tournament Results

Rugby Tourney 20 Years Strong at the Gap


By Kathryn M. D'Imperio
Ft Indiantown Gap - Annville, PA
June 25, 2005

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP — Twenty years strong.

Yesterday marked the 20th annual Harrisburg Rugby 7s Tournament, held at Fort Indiantown Gap in Annville. The Harrisburg Rugby Football Club men’s and women’s teams hosted 36 teams, comprised of 16 men’s teams, 12 women’s teams and eight U-19 teams. Rugby players traveled from far and wide, with some teams arriving from as far away as Monmouth, N.J.

The day long event kicked off with the women’s and high-school divisions entering their first matches at 9 am. on Saturday, followed by the men’s division opening up at 9:30. More than 150 total games consisting of seven-minute halves took place throughout the day.

“With the exception of missing two years because of injuries, I’ve played in our 7’s program for the past 19 years,” said Bob Rhubright, who played as Harrisburg’s scrumhalf at the tournament. “I’ve seen players come and go, but the common denominators with all the teams were the love of the sport and the camaraderie.”

Rhubright also coaches the Lebanon Valley College women’s rugby club, which incepted in February of 2002. Rhubright, of Lebanon, played rugby with Harrisburg for almost 20 years.

“With our tournament, we get teams from all over the East Coast, teams we don’t even know that hear about our tournament,” said Harry Lingle.

Lingle, of Lebanon, played rugby for Harrisburg since 1978 and now coaches the Harrisburg women’s team.

“We get the best quality refs we have in the EPRU that do a wonderful job for us, and I think that everybody who comes here appreciates that,” he said.

The Harrisburg women lost their match to Thorn A in the quarterfinals, 20-17.

“Our women’s team went 1-1-1 today,” Lingle added. “You either play great, or it’s a heartache, but it’s a great day. There’s no better way to meet people from all different areas and play a great game.”

Harrisburg’s men beat Lock Haven 21-12 in the quarterfinals and lost a heart breaker in sudden death overtime to Lehigh Valley B, 17-12. Shaun Korin, a Lock Haven alumni, was adamant about beating his former team.

“If there was ever one game I did not want to lose, that was it,” he said.

Throughout the championship rounds, tries were scored by Harrisburg’s Rhubright, Larry Sweger and Shaun Koren. Rhubright, Sweger and Scott Strelec kicked conversions for additional points.

Other local players in addition to Rhubright and Lingle include William “Dobber” Ehrhorn, a forward formerly of Lock Haven, and Ben Stokes, of Hummelstown.

“Our tournament always has very good play, very good competitive rugby,” said Sweger, who joined the Harrisburg team in 1994. “The guys playing together and the camaraderie, it’s great. The guys try hard, man. Everybody out there definitely gave their hearts. They gave everything they had.”

At the end of the day, last year’s champions reigned again. Keystone women from Philadelphia defeated Lehigh Valley Maulie Maguires 27-0. In the men’s finals, the Lancaster Roses took the title once more with a 24-7 victory over Lehigh Valley.

At the conclusion of the competition, Harrisburg Rugby hosted a brief awards ceremony, followed by a barbecue picnic for all the event’s attendees, players and spectators alike.

Last year, the Lancaster Roses placed first in the men’s division while Keystone went all the way in the women’s bracket, with scores of 31-7 and 17-0, respectively.

As usual, Fort Indiantown Gap Fire Department fire trucks rolled up and provided a refreshing shower to alleviate some of the day’s heat and humidity.

Visit the Harrisburg Rugby Football Club Web site at www.harrisburgrugby.com to learn more about the team or to inquire about joining.


Postscript: The Harrisburg Rugby Football Club would like to thank Ft Indiantown Gap and tournament sponsors UGI Heating and Cooling, Rutt's Machine Shop, KoKoMos Sports Bar and Grill, Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corporation, Allquest Real Estate, Supreme Settlement Services, The Yellow Sign, and Mumma's Appliances for all their support. Additional thanks go to TJ's East End Pub, Breski's Beverage Distributers and Godek Rugby and Soccer Supply for making the day possible.

2006 – Tournament Results – Men

Champion

2nd

3rd

Plate

Sportsmanship

Roses A

Lehigh Valley B

Harrisburg

Lehigh Valley A

Wilkes Barre

2006 – Tournament Results – Women

Champion

2nd

3rd

Plate

Sportsmanship

Keystone

Maulie Maguires

Monmouth

Lancaster Thorns

Severn River

2006 – Tournament Results – U19 Boys

Champion

2nd

3rd

Plate

Sportsmanship

West Shore United

Hempfield

Hibernians



2006 – Tournament Results – U19 Girls

Champion

2nd

3rd

Plate

Sportsmanship

Hempfield

West Shore United




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All Time Records

All Time Men's Tournament Winners

Champion

2nd

3rd

4th

1987

Lancaster

Blackthorn

South Jersey

Princeton AC

1988

South Jersey

Montgomery

Lost Boys

Blackthorn

1989

Lost Boys

South Jersey

Harrisburg

Morris

1990

South Jersey

Lost Boys

Lancaster

Harrisburg

1991

Blackthorn

Harrisburg

South Jersey

Lancaster

1992

Harrisburg

Blackthorn

South Jersey

Lancaster

1993

Lancaster

Blackthorn

South Jersey

Harrisburg

1994

Blackthorn Old Boys

Penn State

Blackthorn

Clearfield

1995

Penn State

Lancaster

Blackthorn

Harrisburg

1996

Lancaster

Penn State

Bethlehem

South Jersey

1997

Lancaster

Manhattan

North Penn

Harrisburg

1998

Penn State

Lancaster

Harrisburg

Reading

1999

Reading

Penn State

Lancaster

Harrisburg

2000

Lancaster

Reading

Manhattan

Harrisburg

2001

Lancaster

Manhattan, NY

Penn State

Brandywine

2002

Reading

Harrisburg

Brandywine

Lehigh Valley

2003

Lehigh Valley

Pittsburgh Harlequins

Harrisburg

Roses A

2004

Old Gaelic

Roses A

Harrisburg

Lehigh Valley

2005

Roses A

Lehigh Valley

Harrisburg

Philadelphia Whitemarsh

2006

Roses A

Lehigh Valley B

Harrisburg

Lehigh Valley A

2007

Norfolk

Roses A

Lehigh Valley

Harrisburg

All Time Women Tournament Winners

Champion

2nd

3rd

4th

2002

MD Stingers Old Girls

Brandywine

Keystone

Lehigh Valley

2003

New York

NOVA 1

Keystone 1

Harrisburg

2004

Keystone

Maulie Maguires

Harrisburg

Philadelphia A

2005

Keystone

Brandywine

Maulie Maguires

Harrisburg

2006

Keystone

Maulie Maguires

Monmouth

Lancaster Thorns

2007

NOVA 1

Washington Furies

Maulie Maguires

Harrisburg

All Time U19 Boys Tournament Winners

Champion

2nd

3rd

4th

2006

West Shore United

Hempfield

Hibernians


2007

West Shore United

State College

Hempfield


All Time U19 Girls Tournament Winners

Champion

2nd

3rd

4th

2006

Hempfield

West Shore United



2007

Doylestown

Warwick Storm

West Shore United


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