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The 15th version of the Jasper 7s tournament was played April 24th in Jasper, Alberta. The Centennial Park fans were treated to the usual: fast-paced 7-a-side action, some massive hits (just ask Thom Dutchak!), and a short snow squall. This year we were able to move back to the pools / cup-plate-bowl format (instead of double knockout) so there was tough competition at all levels and some great finals.
On the women's side, the bowl champions were the Pirates, who snuck past Ft. Mac by the narrowest of margins: tied on wins, tied on differential, but the Pirates scored 4 tries and Ft. Mac 3! The Rockers made easy work of the Plate competition and took home the $250 prize.
The Cup final was contested between 2 powerhouses -- LT1 and the Irish (CCIAC). The game was tight early on but the LTs pulled away through a couple of tries by Janine Martin, later named tournament MVP (still later, following in Kelly MacMillan's footsteps, she lost her MVP prize :)). This was the 5th consecutive cup championship for the LTs who played an excellent brand of ball-control sevens: moving the ball around well and finding the holes.
The men's side saw more stiff competition with a mixture of new and old taking home the honours. In the bowl, the young Norwesters side put away the Calgary Fire Department to take home $100.
The plate final saw the Goggas (the aging LTs plus guests) defeat the Prince George Gnats. This was a win-win game for Troy McKenzie, a former Tiger and LT who has been a stalwart at the Prince George club since he moved there 10 years ago. Troy has played on the Goggas team for the last couple of seasons and has taken a lot of flak from the other Gnats for abandoning them at Jasper 7s. This year he played the first half of the plate final for the Goggas and then swapped jerseys and scored a try for the Gnats. It wasn't enough in the end so he popped the Goggas jersey back on for the team picture and to drink his share of the $250 prize money!!
The Men's cup final was a mirror image of the Women's with the LT1s again taking on the CCIAC. However this time the result didn't go to the Edmonton side: the Irish took the final 4 tries to none and the $400 first prize. The boys in green were in excellent form, playing such strong defence that they didn't concede a single try on the day. Mozak Samson was named tournament MVP although there were a number of worthy candidates on the team. This team really raised the level of competition we can look forward to for the 2011 event.
Thanks to everyone who attended: your participation keeps the tournament alive and running so mark your calendars for next year!
Originally the Jasper 7's was organized by the Jasper Dregs RFC. They ran it for 1985, 86, 87. The Dregs did a great job with the rugby tournament on the saturday and a skiing tournament on the sunday. What Jasper lacked on the field, they more than made up for on the slopes.Then unfortunately their club disbanded and the tournament was neglected.
Some of us never forgot the good times and fantastic location of the tournament. It was an amazing kick off to the season and provided great practice for the Pirates 7's, the official sanctioned 7's for the ERU. With the Pirates 7's being the only 7's on the ERU calendar, some players wanted to play more 7's. "Well if you ever want to do anything right, do it yourself!" said four members of the Edmonton Tigers. Barry Moore, Gino Narduzzi, Troy Schnelle, and Byron Tucker were committed to making the 'new' Jasper 7's a top event with good quality rugby and a relaxed social atmosphere.
In 1992, 12 teams signed up and the Jasper 7's was revived. That first year was nerve-racking as the odds were not in the tournament's favor: What if it snows? Will the townspeople welcome rugby players again? Where do we get porta-potties from? But in true rugby fashion, the first year was a success and no one got hurt or put in jail. That sucess has continued to the present. As of 2005 the tournament has never been cancelled due to weather (thank the Lord) and the towns people come to watch the games especially the team of Jasper and to my knowledge no-one has been locked up due to misbehaviour and washroom facilities are provided.
In 1993 the teams were increased to 16 and the tournament ran even better than anticipated. It was a triple knockout and you entry fee included a meal and a ski pass for the sunday. As word spread about the setting,the welcome, the tournament parties, and the competition, more teams wanted to enter.
1994 saw the addition of a womens side and players from all over B.C and Alberta entered 4 teams in to kick off the new division. As the tournament grew in popularity, increased numbers of teams wanted to enter and eventually the current limit was reached: 16 Mens open, 16 Womens open and 4 Mens old Boys (over 35's). Each team consists of 10 players so thats a minimum of 360 players to feed and drink with. Now thats what I call a party.
Some memorable moments:
In 1998, a team called the MUDWING WARRIORS came over from England specifically to, play in the Jasper 7's. They had a good side but were defeated by the Lep/Tigers in the final of the mens open.
In 2002, the Kats from Vancouver brought an old boys team and cleaned up by winning their division. They enjoyed it so much that in 2003 they brought and side for the open division as well.
In 2004, the first team from Saskatchewan came with 12 girls to play and they all had a great time and vowed to come again and bring a mens team. That same year, a team of forwards with the name Poon's Rude Trolls came from New Brunswick to see what a real mountain looked like.
Every year men and womens teams come down from Fort MacMurray to play which is a 7 hour drive. Prince George Gnats always send a team and a very competitive one at that. 2001 saw our first teams from Calgary with the Renegades and a mens team called Barely Legal.
With a mixture of visitors and all the ERU clubs represented every year makes this tournament a fixture not to be missed. None of it could happen without the participation of the Atha-B hotel in Jasper who have bent over backwards to ensure people are taken care of and the primary atmosphere of the tournament is not compromised. Where else can you have a beer with a national player and meet a player who has just played their first game ever.