STONE HARBOR – At its March 19 work session, Stone Harbor Borough Council discussed plans for a Super Seven Rugby Tournament to be held in the borough on Labor Day Weekend. The special event application was making its way to the council for approval, but members indicated support for the event.
“This is perfect timing for our residents,” said Council President Joselyn Rich.
League President David Niu explained that the visit to Stone Harbor was part of a six-city barnstorming tour beginning in Honolulu, Hawaii. “We thought Stone Harbor a perfect place to end the tour,” Niu said, citing the experience the borough had hosting Surfside Sevens Rugby Tournament.
Super Seven’s Rugby League launched in 2017 to support the fast-growing sport of Rugby Sevens to North America. It is a professional league with an international game that Niu hopes to establish in cities across the United States and Canada.
“We are not approaching this as a onetime thing,” Niu said. “We’d like it to be an annual event.”
Goals for the six-city tour include raising awareness of the league and Rugby Sevens, working as partners with local businesses and engaging young people in an appreciation of the game.
Niu expects that the tournament will attract between 2,500 and 3,000 spectators. He said tickets would be priced to encourage people to see the sport. “Something like $10 for adults and $5 for young people,” he said.
The tour will bring 220 professional rugby players to Stone Harbor. The players would be housed in hotels in Atlantic City due to the difficulty of accommodating that many players on the holiday weekend in Cape May County.
Niu, an Australian native, outlined the logistics of the event with bleachers set up for spectators, weekend activities for children, and tournament day on Labor Day. The games would probably run from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m., he said.
The recreation field and facilities at 80th Street would host the tournament.
It is possible to run a tournament in one day because of the fast pace of the game of Rugby Sevens.
The Game
Rugby Sevens is a variant of rugby with seven instead of 15 players on a side. The halves are seven minutes instead of 40 minutes long.
Rugby Sevens is played at a faster pace than 15s with quicker restarts getting the ball back in play. Substitutes are used in the same way as the 15-player game but the bench is smaller. Yellow card suspensions are for two minutes instead of 10. Ties are settled with skills competitions.
The field dimensions are the same as in the 15-player game, allowing scoring to be much more frequent since the defenders have more space to cover. The pace of the game is key to its mushrooming popularity.
The Rugby Sevens League has both mens’ and womens’ teams.
Niu spoke about the league’s partnership with ESPN which broadcasts the tournament games as the tour moves west from Hawaii to the Atlantic Coast.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
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