The Nation's Top 24 Men's and Top 16 Women's College Rugby 7s Squads Come to Philadelphia This Weekend - May 31, June 1, 2 - at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester for the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship

PHILADELPHIA, May 29, 2019 (Newswire.com) -  Media Advisory for the 2019 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship -

INTERVIEW-PHOTO-VIDEO OPPORTUNITIES

The Nation’s Top 24 Men’s and Top 16 Women’s College Rugby 7s Squads Come to Philadelphia This Weekend – May 31, June 1, 2 – at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester

WHO:             Over 600 men’s and women’s college rugby players from over 35 colleges and universities

WHAT:              2019 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship

WHEN:              Friday, May 31, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

                          Saturday, June 1, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

                          Sunday, June 2, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

WHERE:           Talen Energy Stadium, 1 Stadium Drive, Chester, PA 19013.   

Game-day MEDIA Credentials for print-online-radio-television are still available for the 2019 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship, to be conducted Friday, May 31, Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa.

Media members may contact Jim DeLorenzo by phone at (215) 266-5943 or by e-mail at jim@jhdenterprises.com with requests for interviews, photo and video opportunities, as well as media credentials.

A limited number of complimentary parking passes are available upon request.

Credentials and additional information are available for pick-up at the Philadelphia 201 Hotel (formerly the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel) at 201 N 17th St, Philadelphia, PA 19103 on the following dates and times:

·        Thursday, May 30 from 12 Noon to 4 p.m.

·        Friday, May 31 from 12 Noon to 4 p.m.

On Saturday, June 2 and Sunday, June 2, media credentials will be available beginning at 8 a.m. each day at the Media Will Call tent/table near the security checkpoint adjacent to the “Supporters Gate” at Talen Energy Stadium (river side), located directly in front of Lot B near the Festival grounds at Talen Energy Stadium, 1 Stadium Drive, Chester, PA 19013.   

IN ADDITION, PLEASE NOTE, VIDEO/PHOTO/INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES with players, coaches, officials and dignitaries will also be available on Friday, May 31 at the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship Welcome Dinner & VIP Reception, at The Fillmore Philadelphia, 29 E Allen St, Philadelphia, PA 19123, from 5:15 p.m. 6 p.m. (program to follow to 7:30 p.m.).

PENN MUTUAL CRC Notes:

·        The three-day rugby festival is one of the largest gatherings of collegiate and high school rugby teams in the world, with over 30,000 fans anticipated to be in attendance.

·        This is the ninth consecutive year that the event has been held in Philadelphia and at Talen Energy Stadium. (The first year of the event was held in Columbus, Ohio.) 

·        Penn Mutual is in the fifth year of a title sponsorship for the event.

·        The 2019 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship features the nation’s top 24 men’s collegiate rugby 7s teams; the top 16 women’s teams; a regional competition, the Freedom Cup, with a six-team field vying for a spot in next year’s main bracket; the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) national championship; and a national high school tournament with both boys’ and girls’ teams. 

·        Reserved and field level tickets to the “World’s Largest Collegiate Rugby Festival” are available online at sevensrugby.com and at the Talen Energy Stadium box office. Single day reserved tickets are $90 and field level tickets are $63, and full weekend reserved tickets are $132 and field level tickets are $79.

·        The 24-team men’s field features America’s best teams, competing for the Pete Dawkins Trophy, led by defending champion Lindenwood University and last year’s runner-up, UCLA, along with Arizona; Army; Boston College; California; Clemson; Colorado; Dartmouth; Fordham; Indiana; Iona; Kutztown; Life; Navy; Notre Dame; Penn State; Saint Joseph’s; St. Bonaventure; St. Mary’s; South Carolina; Temple; Virginia Tech and Wisconsin. 

·        The Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship trophy, the Pete Dawkins Trophy, is named after the All-American football standout at West Point who won the Heisman Trophy in 1958.  Army General Pete Dawkins was a Rhodes Scholar and attended Oxford, where he used his outstanding football skills to make him a star on the Oxford Varsity rugby team, revolutionizing the game in the process.

·        The men’s most valuable player will receive the Mark Dombroski Most Valuable Player Trophy, named in honor of the late Saint Joseph’s rugby player who passed away in March 2018

·        Competition in the 2019 Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship will be carried live on ESPN2, ESPNEWS and ESPN.

·        The 16-team women’s college rugby 7s field, competing for the A. Jon Prusmack Cup, is led by defending champion Lindenwood University and last year’s runner-up, Penn State, alongside Army, Bloomsburg, Delaware, Drexel, Kutztown, Life, Navy, Northeastern, Notre Dame, Queens University, Saint Joseph’s, Temple, Virginia Tech as well as the National Small College Rugby Organization Selects Squad.

·        In addition to the main men’s and women’s college rugby 7s competition, the weekend also includes a six-team men’s rugby 7s field in the Freedom Cup – Drexel, Harvard, Mount Saint Mary’s, Rowan, Villanova and West Chester – competing for a spot in next year’s 24-team field in the men’s Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship. 

·        Also this weekend at Talen Energy Stadium is the NSCRO Powered by Penn Mutual Rugby 7s National Championship. That tournament field includes Christendom College; Claremont Colleges; University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point; University of Denver; Loyola (MD) University; New Mexico Highlands University; Susquehanna University; and Thomas More University.

·        While the featured attractions this weekend are the top 24 men’s and top 16 women’s college rugby 7s teams in the United States, the cream of the crop of the nation’s top high school and club rugby 7s squads have been invited to Philadelphia this weekend. The states represented in this year’s high school and club tournament field include Connecticut; Maryland; Pennsylvania; Texas and Virginia.

·        Dunkin’ of Greater Philadelphia returns for the second consecutive year as the presenting sponsor of the Collegiate Rugby Festival Powered by Dunkin’ on the grounds outside suburban Philly’s Talen Energy Stadium.

Dunkin’s presenting sponsorship features the second annual “Munchkin Rugby” coaching and demonstration area, featuring instruction for children in the sport of rugby by Rugby PA.  This year, there will be multiple rugby matches in the “blow-up” stadium on the festival grounds.  The championship match will take place Saturday, June 1 at 12 Noon on the field in Talen Energy Stadium, as the two children’s teams will be competing for the first Munchkin Rugby Championship. Also, all the children participating in Munchkin Rugby will be receiving branded t-shirts courtesy of Dunkin’.

·        Media contact for United World Sports: Joe Favorito, joefavorito2@gmail.com, (201) 746-0005

·        Media contact for Penn Mutual CRC: Jim DeLorenzo, jim@jhdenterprises.com, (215) 266-5943

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Source: Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship