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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.