This is the 4th year for the Boo Daddy 7's tournament,
the first year they've had a women's division. It's called the 'Harlot Fest' out of an old rugby tradition about rugby whores.
A rugby whore is someone who will go to a tournament & play for any team who
will take them, with loyalty to none.
The "Boo Daddy" tournament is named after a Western Suburbs RFC (in Manassas, Northern Virginia)
player by the name of Greg Claypool. (He was given the moniker of "Boo" by two older women co-workers who
thought he was like a big "boo-boo bear.") Of course it's true that when an event is named
after someone it usually is done as a memorial tribute - in other words, because he's dead.
No, Greg isn't dead (at least not as of the time of this writing), but he is a heart attack
away from croaking because (in his own words) he's, "A biscuit away from 300 pounds."
Western Suburbs created the "Boo Daddy 7's Harlotfest" in
July, 1995 for a variety of reasons. Mainly, because they had an
open Saturday in the summer. They had nothing else to do so they
decided to play their own mini-tournament in the morning and then
go to Boo's house for a pool party.
That's right - the event was named after a guy because he had a
pool!
That first year, the tournament had only four men's teams, all comprised of
Suburbs players and a few Richmond guys. But, the idea stuck.
Suburbs was tired of spending anywhere from $125 - $300 at
other teams' tournaments just to get paired against 7's teams
trying to qualify and getting their asses handed to them. Where's the
fun in that?
"Why not have our own tournament, make our own money, and have some fun for once? "
They asked themselves.
Also, they wanted theirs to be the event everyone would want to keep coming back to year after year
because they had a great time.
"Everyone" was the key word - when you think of 7's you
certainly don't think of 300 pound out-of-shape, breathless, beer-guzzling props - more
likely the image of anorexic gazelles comes to mind. And, Boo is the epitome of a non-7's
prototype, so the name stuck.
Camaraderie among rival teams is a big problem, too, in any rugby league, so the tournament
was the perfect remedy for that (at least for one day). With their "harlot" format, entry is by
individuals only, not teams, so you never know who'll be be playing with. You have to get
along if you want to have a chance of winning, especially if your team is composed of all
props! Besides, it's really cool when you get teamed with an Eagle whom you would probably
never be on the same field with normally.
At this tournament, there aren't any teams for anyone to have any loyalty to.
Entry is by individual, only. They take all player names, put the forwards in one bag, the backs in another & then draw names.
That's the team.
Last year, 40 women showed up for the tournament so they played 10-a-side rugby, but Sevens format is the goal this year.
Come one, come all ... but come with the right attitude: winning isn't important, but having a blast is!
