Come see why three players interviewed and profiled by Rugby Magazine listed the Harrisburg 7's as their favorite rugby tournament!
Twenty Third Annual
Harrisburg's 7's Rugby Tournament
Saturday June 27, 2009
Campbelltown Volunteer Fire Company
Campbelltown, PA 17010
Questions or Concerns
Larry Sweger
717-215-0771
larsweger@harrisburgrugby.com
MARFU Adverse Weather Policy
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Welcome to the 23rd Annual Harrisburg Rugby Club 7's Tournament!
The Harrisburg Rugby Football Club appreciate the opportunity to continue our tradition of hosting the best grass roots 7's rugby tournament in Pennsylvania and in the Mid-Atlantic Region. We strive for the true spirit of rugby, forging bonds of friendship that last a lifetime.
We would like to offer special appreciation to all of our tournament sponsors and also to our major sponsors for their support. Without them, this tournament would not be possible. We urge you to patronize the advertisers in this program, as they are true advocates of rugby.
Many thanks to the 2009 Tournament Committee and Harrisburg Rugby Club volunteers who are responsible for making this tournament run so seamlessly. Special thanks to all the referees - without them there would be no game. Thanks also go to the Campbelltown Volunteer Fire Company staff for the use of their facilities and fields and to Friendship Fire Company and the Bressler Club for the use of Cibort Park.
Good luck to all participants in the 23rd Annual Harrisburg Rugby Club 7's Tournament. Thank you for coming, and we hope to see you next year. Remember, rugby is not just a game, but a way of life.
Sincerely,
Gregory K. Ball
President
Harrisburg Rugby Football Club
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23 Year History of the Harrisburg 7's Tournament
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Established in 1987, the Harrisburg Sevens Tournament was established by a committee to encourage sevens rugby at the grass roots level.
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The first tournament was an eight team event held at Penn State, Harrisburg on the Middletown Pitch. In order to promote local sevens the fixture was set for the last Saturday in June to coincide with the Washington Sevens. The desire of the committee was to gather local teams not the elite teams competing for the national championship. To attract local teams the committee offered reasonable prices for entry fees, t-shirts, food & other concessions. Numerous trophies and plaques would be presented to the top four teams as well as the winners of each consolation bracket. Tournament winners would get a large trophy and double their entry fee, and runner-up would get their entry fee returned. The pitches were full sized. Referees were by invitation only and would be enticed to the tournament by offering numerous perks for expenses.
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In 1988 the tournament moved to Shank Park in Hershey for three years, and expanded to 16 teams.
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In 1991 the Harrisburg Sevens Tournament was held at the New Cumberland Army Depot.
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Since 1992 Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation has become the site for the Harrisburg Sevens.
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A women's bracket was added in 1994. The tournament has hosted 16 women sides and 20 men sides over the past few years.
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The first U19 bracket was added for boys in 2005. In 2006 a bracket for U19 girls was added and the number of U19 teams expanded to twelve; six boys and six girl's teams.
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There is promise of the Army building a couple more fields in 2009, which should allow for more teams to participate in the tournament. In recent years the club as turned away many late entry teams, as many as 11, as a result of lack of fields and daylight.
- For the first time in the history of the tournament, in 2008 the number of teams entering the tournament exceeded 50.
- After 16 successful years at Fort Indiantown Gap, the 2009 tournament temporarily relocated to the Campbelltown Volunteer Fire Company with the reality of the construction of brand new fields purposely built for rugby and ready for business in 2010.
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Harrisburg Sevens Crowns 4 Champions
Monday Jun 30, 2008 in Sevens Club Competitions
June 30, 2008 - The 22nd Annual Harrisburg 7s saw over 50 teams trek out to central Pennsylvania, all with an eye on one of four division trophies.
Carlisle, Keystone, West Shore United and Hempfield White had to make extra room in Tent City for their well earned hardware.
In the men’s bracket, Carlisle topped Lancaster Roses A 14-7 in the final after downing Lehigh Valley (21-0), Happy Valley Penn State Old Boys (35-0), West Chester (40-0) and Wilkes Barre (26-5) in the semis. Wilkes Barre engineered the most notable upset on the day, defeating eventual finalist Roses A during pool play and scoring five of the 12 points against Carlisle over the entire day.
“They’re usually a three [game]-and-barbecue team,” tournament director Larry Sweger commented. “I even seeded them last in their bracket. They were definitely the biggest surprise of the day.”
Not so much of a surprise was the women’s division winner – Keystone. Kate Daley and her teammates went unscored upon all day, racking up 174 points en route to the championship. The DI club topped Western New York (27-0), Morris (31-0) and Philadelphia (34-0) during pool play, then finished off Harrisburg (39-0) in the semis. The Village Lions (New York City) posed little problem in the final, going down 43-0.
“Pound for pound, they were just bigger and stronger players,” said Lions captain Becca Asser. “We had a few line breaks, but they are a well-oiled division one machine.”
The Boys’ U-19 crown went to West Shore United, fresh off their sixth place finish at the Boys’ U-19 National Championship. United downed VisionQuest (24-0) and Warwick/Hempfield (Lancaster) twice (24-10, 29-10) before defeating Harrisburg’s Cougars 24-7 for the title. Notable in the boys’ division was VisionQuest, a juvenile detention center out of Gettysburg, Pa.
Harrisburg 7s marked that team’s first-ever tournament and they played respectably, improving with every match.
Lancaster-based Hempfield White walked away with the Girls’ U-19 trophy, having blanked Warwick 12-0 in the final, a repeat of its pool play face-off, which Hempfield won 7-0. The girls also topped West Shore United A 19-0, Doylestown 17-10 and Doylestown 12-0.
Post script
“The ideology has been to make enough money to purchase our own field,” said tournament director Larry Sweger. But in the meantime, the Ft. Indiantown Gap, a National Guard training center, provides amazing grounds for a four-pitch tournament. The tournament barbecue and party – replete with crowd favorite Magic Beans and free beer truck - occurred right on the grounds, and teams were encouraged to camp out in Tent City. There are no serious regulations to abide other than no fires and quiet hour after 11pm. My club made the last-minute decision on the excursion due to its proximity to Hershey Park, but now that we’re hip to the scene, we’ll make a camping weekend out of the event going forward.
“It’s also very important to us to keep the grassroots flavor alive,” Sweger continued as he points to the refs, who are leading a chorus of rugby songs. “We had some great referees come out, including Pete Hessler and Terry Haas.”
Perhaps the only hitch was the management of the women’s bracket. NOVA and Doylestown dropped out and both were in the same pool of a 16-team bracket. Instead of changing brackets around, the organizers left one pool with only two teams – Village Lions and Brandywine played each other twice.
- Jackie Finlan
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Men's Open Division
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Champion
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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Sportsmanship
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Roses I
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Old Gaelic
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Lehigh Valley
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Grizzlies
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Old Gaelic
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Women's Open Division
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Champion
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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Sportsmanship
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Keystone
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Harrisburg |
Village Lions
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Dolyestown
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Village Lions
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U19 Boy's Division
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Champion
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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Sportsmanship
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West Shore United I
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Carlisle
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West Shore United II
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Hempfield/Warwick
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U19 Girls Division
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Champion
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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Sportsmanship
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Dolyestown I
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Hempfield White
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Warwick
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Doylestown II
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All Time Records
Men's Open Division
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Champion
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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1987
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Lancaster
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Blackthorn
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South Jersey
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Princeton AC
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1988
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South Jersey
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Montgomery
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Lost Boys
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Blackthorn
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1989
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Lost Boys
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South Jersey
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Harrisburg
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Morris
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1990
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South Jersey
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Lost Boys
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Lancaster
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Harrisburg
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1991
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Blackthorn
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Harrisburg
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South Jersey
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Lancaster
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1992
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Harrisburg
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Blackthorn
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South Jersey
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Lancaster
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1993
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Lancaster
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Blackthorn
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South Jersey
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Harrisburg
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1994
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Blackthorn Old Boys
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Penn State
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Blackthorn
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Clearfield
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1995
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Penn State
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Lancaster
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Blackthorn
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Harrisburg
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1996
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Lancaster
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Penn State
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Bethlehem
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South Jersey
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1997
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Lancaster
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Manhattan
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North Penn
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Harrisburg
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1998
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Penn State
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Lancaster
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Harrisburg
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Reading
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1999
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Reading
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Penn State
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Lancaster
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Harrisburg
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2000
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Lancaster
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Reading
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Manhattan
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Harrisburg
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2001
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Lancaster
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Manhattan, NY
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Penn State
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Brandywine
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2002
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Reading
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Harrisburg
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Brandywine
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Lehigh Valley
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2003
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Lehigh Valley
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Pittsburgh Harlequins
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Harrisburg
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Roses A
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2004
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Old Gaelic
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Roses A
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Harrisburg
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Lehigh Valley
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2005
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Roses A
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Lehigh Valley
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Harrisburg
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Philadelphia Whitemarsh
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2006
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Roses A
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Lehigh Valley B
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Harrisburg
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Lehigh Valley A
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2007
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Norfolk
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Roses A
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Lehigh Valley
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Harrisburg
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2008
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Old Gaelic A
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Roses A
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Wilkes Barre
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Reading
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2009
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Roses
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Old Gaelic
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Lehigh Valley
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Grizzles
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Women's Open Division
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Champion
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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2002
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MD Stingers Old Girls
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Brandywine
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Keystone
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Lehigh Valley
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2003
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New York
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NOVA 1
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Keystone 1
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Harrisburg
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2004
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Keystone
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Maulie Maguires
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Harrisburg
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Philadelphia A
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2005
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Keystone
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Brandywine
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Maulie Maguires
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Harrisburg
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2006
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Keystone
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Maulie Maguires
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Monmouth
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Lancaster Thorns
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2007
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NOVA 1
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Washington Furies
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Maulie Maguires
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Harrisburg
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2008
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Keystone
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Village Lions
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Harrisburg
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York/Lancaster Thorns
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2009
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Keystone
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Harrisburg
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Village Lions
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Doylestown
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U19 Boys Division
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Champion
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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2006
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West Shore United
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Hempfield
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Hibernians
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2007
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West Shore United
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State College
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Hempfield
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2008
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West Shore United I
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Harrisburg Cougars
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West Shore United II
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Hempfield/Warwick
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2009
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West Shore United I
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Carlisle
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West Shore United II
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Hempfield/Warwick
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U19 Girls Division
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Champion
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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2006
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Hempfield
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West Shore United
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2007
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Doylestown
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Warwick Storm
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West Shore United
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2008
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Hempfield White
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Warwick Storm
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Doylestown I
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Doylestown II
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2009
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Doylestown I
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Hempfield White
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Warwick
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Doylestown II
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