Summer Sevens Tourney draws in the numbers
Summer Sevens Tournament draws in the numbers for NP
HATFIELD » Whitney Richter has spent time on the basketball court and on the lacrosse field, but for the North Penn grad, there’s no place like the scrum.
“There’s no other sport that has contact like rugby does,” said Richter, now a senior at Penn State. “It’s a unique sport because of the contact. There’s really nothing else quite like it. It’s much more satisfying.
“And it’s the culture too. Any other sport, the teams aren’t as close. Your rugby team is your family. That’s why people stay with their programs for years and years and years because the people you play with are your family.”
Richter and several of her closest teammates battled the area’s best on Saturday, as North Penn Rugby Football Club played host to its Annual Summer Sevens Tournament over at Clemens Road Park.
“We have a pretty committed turnout so we get a lot of these guys year in and year out,” said NPRFC Vice President Mike Sciarra. “Fantastic turnout. We had 32 teams so it
“Your rugby team is your family. That’s why people stay with their programs for years and years and years because the people you play with are your family.” — Whitney Richter
will be the third year running we’ve had this many teams. The big thing is all these teams are local.”
Dozens of colorful team tents dotted the grounds at Clemens Road Park — North Penn brought its new one out and proudly put it on display. While teams battled back and forth in the playoff match-ups, each club held its own barbecue, roasting hamburgers and hot dogs and creating a nice tailgate-type atmosphere.
Intensity level on the field was there from the morning hours all the way through to early evening.
“I like it because it’s close to home. A lot of the other tournaments are a far drive so it’s a really nice opportunity to host,” said Richter, whose father, Jesse, started playing rugby when she was two and then she began her playing days in eighth grade.
Richter even got her referee certification to fully expand her knowledge of the game. She got a women’s team together for Saturday’s festivities.
“It’s a good opportunity to fund raise for your home team,” said Richter. “You get to see a lot of the people you went to high school with, which is the nice part about sevens.”
T-shirts were selling well at the tourney as were concessions
— anything from trail mix to Swedish fish. Teams from all over — Doylestown, Philadelphia, Reading and Wilkes-Barre included — made the trip.
“Schuylkill River has a great program, especially with sevens, so they’re always huge, huge contenders,” Sciarra said. “Rugby’s starting to come out and now that NBC has the rights for the Olympics and now that rugby’s in the Olympics for sevens, everything’s starting to get pushed forward now. USA Rugby’s really starting to push it.
“I think this is probably our fifth here at Clemens Road Park but we’ve been running this probably since the mid 1990’s. Next year will be our club’s 30th Anniversary (for North Penn Rugby). A lot of people don’t realize it’s right in their backyard and we’ve been here for about 30 years now.”
North Penn Rugby fields a men’s team, State Champion high school boys and girls squads, as well as a youth flag team that’s in its fourth year of existence, for rugby tykes as young as four years old.
“You gotta get ‘em early,” Sciarra said. “They absolutely love it.”
If they’re like Sciarra, it will turn into a lifelong passion. Same goes for North Penn Rugby Club President, John Lock, “not to be confused with John Locke, the philosopher,” Sciarra says kiddingly.
“I’ve been running this program for five years now and seen it grow. It’s been huge,” said Lock, who also started playing while he was a student at North Penn High.
“A couple of the guys bugged me my freshman year to come out for the team,” he said of his early playing days. “I finally gave in and turned out to love it.”
“A couple of the guys bugged me my freshman year to come out for the team. I finally gave in and turned out to love it.” — North Penn Rugby Club President John Lock