The 2025 AGM will be held virtually 12pm – 2 pm EST on Sunday, August 17th, all members welcome! Contact secretary@epru.org for meeting details.
Agenda:
Interested in being a board member or division coordinator? Nominate yourself or someone else by 5 pm Monday, July 14th by using the nomination form!
On Saturday, February 22nd there is an opportunity for a level 1 referee clinic at Spooky Nook Sports Complex. The trainers for this event are Sherri Magneson and Katie Huntinger. Union members can sign up through Rugby Xplorer for $85. This cost covers the trainers and materials needed for this event. We have the turf field and team room from 8:30 am – 5:30 pm.
Once a ref is certified, they can referee in any organization; EPRU, MARC, RugbyPa, Capitol, MARR, NIRA, etc. This benefits all rugby players from college to club. What makes this event especially unique is that newly certified referees will be able to immediately get live field experience the very next week with coaching and evaluation during the Frostbite Tournament the following week.
To sign up click here – Once you log in to your Rugby Xplorer account click on learning center on the left side.
The EPRU is happy to announce that our Summer 7s circuit is back for another year, and thanks to a couple of small tweaks, this summer should be even more fun than last year. The changes from last year to this year are that we’ve added another event to the calendar – Delco 7s hosted by Media – and both Schuylkill River and Central Penn Golden Roses have agreed not to have their top sides compete for the championship since they are seeking qualification to Club 7s Nationals so the competition should be wide open on both the men’s and women’s side of things.
[Note that as of this update no women’s sides are excluded from the standings because we haven’t had any seek to qualify for Nationals since 2019. We will reevaluate at the conclusion of this summer.]
As a reminder, this is NOT the pathway to Nationals. If you want to compete in Club Nationals for 7s you should participate in the MAC events that will be scheduled shortly. The purpose of the EPRU Circuit is to create a competitive, but social and fun, environment for teams that wish to play 7s without the commitment or formal club structure necessary to compete for a National Championship.
The events are:
Delco 7s
Date: June 3, 2023
Host Club: Media Rugby
Point of Contact: George Brown
Email Address: delco7s@mediarugby.com
Field Address: Manor Field, Routes 420 & 291, Essington, PA 19029
Lehigh Valley 7s
Date: June 10, 2023
Host Club: Lehigh Valley
Point of Contact: Garrett Link
Email Address: lvrfc7s@lvrfc.org
Field Address: 1554 Schoenersville Rd, Bethlehem PA 18018
MontBucks 7s
Date: June 17, 2023
Host Club: Montgomery Bucks Rugby
Point of Contact: Mike Sciarra
Email Address: president@mbrugby.org
Field Address: John S. Clemens Memorial Park 500 Fairgrounds Rd Hatfield, PA 19440
Harrisburg 7s
Date: June 24, 2023
Host club: Harrisburg Rugby Football Club
POC: Scott Strelec
Email: hrfc.strelec@gmail.com
Field Address: Dauphin County Vo-Tech School – 6001 Locust Lane, Harrisburg, PA 17109
Cheesesteak 7s
Date: July 15, 2023
Host Club: Brandywine Riot Women’s Rugby
Point of Contact: Stephanie Ottino
Email Address: president@brandywinerugby.org
Field Address: 4361 Weldin Rd, Wilmington, DE 19803
You may sign up for as many, or as few, of the tournaments as you would like and non-EPRU teams are also still allowed to sign up and participate in these tournaments like they always have. There is no requirement that you play in all 5 and there is no requirement that teams need to be from the EPRU to play in the events.
The points system that we are using is:
6 points for winning
4 points for runner up
3 points for third place
2 points for fourth place
1 point for winning any consolation bracket
1 bonus point awarded for each EPRU tournament entered
In case there are questions here are some FAQs. As a reminder, we post a weekly recap on our website explaining all scoring related decisions and updating the standings.
FAQ 1:
What happens if a Club enters multiple sides?
We award the points to the highest finishing side per club and then basically pretend the other sides don’t exist.
Example: Let’s say the finish at Montgomery Bucks is:
In this scenario Phoenixville will only get the 6 points for winning and not the extra 3 points for third, Media will get 4 points for runner up, and we will then slide Blackthorn into the 3rd place spot and award them 3 points with the Gryphons getting 2 points (in other words we are removing the second sides AND sliding everyone up). We are doing this to make sure that the circuit remains competitive throughout the summer.
FAQ 2:
What happens if a non-EPRU Club finishes in the top 4?
We do the same thing that we would do under FAQ 1. We re-calibrate the standings after the fact and award points to the highest finishing EPRU sides in order to keep the circuit competitive.
Example: Let’s say the finish at Montgomery Bucks is:
In this scenario Reading gets 6 points and Brandywine slides all the way up to 2nd place and takes 4 points. Experienced EPRU folks know that we get extra Capital (and probably Empire as well) sides early on in June because their events haven’t started yet. It would be pointless to basically allow a team to clinch the series in week 1. Sorry to be a broken record but we are designing it so that it remains competitive and fun throughout the summer.
FAQ 3:
Who is eligible to play in these tournaments?
Everyone is eligible to play in these tournaments just like you always have. We are not asking our hosts to do anything extra or different in terms of registration and we absolutely welcome teams from outside of the EPRU to participate in the events.
FAQ 4:
Who is eligible to earn points and win the series?
Winning the actual series itself is limited to EPRU teams and on the men’s side we are excluding the teams that are seeking to qualify for Nationals. However, non-EPRU teams can still win individual events and the prizes that go along with that from the host teams. If there’s any question about whether your club is eligible for the series just email Dave Codell at David.codell@gmail.com and let me know. Also, in addition to our Senior Club sides, we are also allowing the EPRU Women’s Collegiate sides to compete or to combine.
Collegiate players should also give consideration to joining a club side for the summer.
Hopefully that’s enough info for now. The basic idea is straightforward – sign up for the same events you’ve always played in – someone will be awarded a title in July. See you soon!
National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) hosted their National Championship All-Star tournament the weekend of Jan 21-22, 2023 in Round Rock Texas and the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union successfully defended our National Title to make it two in a row!
The team went 6-0 on the weekend and earned an incredible 189-39 overall scoreline. In pool play the scores were 31-0 against Allegheny, 26-5 against Colonial Coast, and 38-12 against Northern Lighs to win the pool and set up a quarterfinal match against Rugby Northeast which we were able to win 25-0 and move on to the semifinals. The team fired on all cylinders in the semi-finals earning a 47-5 victory over Ohio Valley in an amazing performance.
This resulted in a Championship Game rematch against Colonial Coast who seriously came to play. The match actually went to overtime following a 17-17 draw in regulation. In the extra period we were able to kick the ball from deep in our own zone and find space. Colonial reclaimed the ball but Saira Alexander and Morgan Mattia had a great kick chase and were the next to arrive. Saira was able to steal the ball and get it to Morgan with enough space to race down the sideline and score the National Championship winning try in a 22-17 victory. Given how the first matchup between these sides went you have to give Colonial Coast a huge amount of credit for their performance as well and for a great weekend overall.
Saira Alexander was named Tournament MVP by Rosalind Chou and Irene Gardner from Premier Rugby Sevens and she was joined on the All-Tournament team by Lindsay Foster, Morgan Mattia, and Rosalyn Page.
With a second National Championship for the EPRU in two years the following players are not multiple time National Champs: Ciara Sharkey (Captain both years), Gianna Calciano, Lindsay Foster, Morgan Mattia, Hannah Plotkin, Kina Nichols.
The first time National Champions are: Saira Alexander, Rosalyn Page, Jaiden Bowen, Elena Facey, Sofia Hernandez, and Adriana Cavazos.
The only seniors/grad students on the team are Ciara Sharkey, Gianna Calciano, Hannah Plotkin, and Kina Nichols so there is plenty of opportunity for this team to continue growing and developing together.
This year also marks the second year in a row where an EPRU sophomore was named tournament MVP. Morgan Mattia won the honors last year so she has the distinction of being a two-time National Champion and a two-time All-Tournament team member.
The full roster with schools and class year is:
Ciara Sharkey – Grad Student, Marywood
Gianna Calciano – Senior, Loyola
Lindsay Foster – Sophomore, East Stroudsburg
Morgan Mattia – Junior, East Stroudsburg
Hannah Plotkin – Senior, Shippensburg
Kina Nichols – Senior, Swarthmore
Saira Alexander – Sophomore, York
Rosalyn Page – Sophomore, Marywood
Jaiden Bowen – Junior, York
Elena Facey – Sophomore, Shippensburg
Sofia Hernandez – Freshman, Loyola
Adriana Cavazos – Freshman, Swarthmore
We are very excited to see that six different schools each provided two players. It shows that the talent is spread throughout our Union.
On the coaching/admin side of things our team was supported by Scott Stratton and Chris Ward who also both currently serve on the EPRU Board, as well as Ali Tare and Elise Galinskie who attended the event and Jamie Fortuna who helped assemble and prepare the team in the months leading up to the event.
Special Shout Out to Jenn Stratton because it’s Jennuary so we have to mention her.
Lastly, we would like to send our love and appreciation to everyone who supports this program. That obviously includes the players, coaches, admins etc involved directly but also includes all of the players, coaches, and supporters back home – not to mention the parents! – who help our Union, and the athletes within our Union, develop and grow on a day-to-day basis so that we can even provide opportunities to participate in events like this, let alone play at a high level.
Thank you!