MALVERN PREP TO JOIN OVER TWENTY RUGBY TEAMS TO RAISE FUNDS FOR WATER SAFETY PROGRAMS AT 6TH ANNUAL "APPLE PIE" 7s

Students from Malvern Preparatory School will be joining over twenty rugby teams in exciting competition with a life-saving mission, by participating in the 6th annual “Apple Pie” 7s Rugby Tournament in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park starting at noon on Friday, November 28. This event --- now a well-established tradition within the Delaware Valley rugby community --- is the principal fundraiser for The Josias A. Sterling Aquatic Education Program at the Ray and Joan Kroc Center of the Salvation Army in North Philadelphia. To date, close to 300 individuals have received scholarships for water safety training since the tournament began in 2009.

Rugby 7s competition is an exciting and fast-paced “short game” with just seven players per side, and will be featured in the 2016 Olympic games in Rio. The “Apple Pie” 7s, played on the Friday after Thanksgiving every year, will bring together over 200 collegiate, high school and club players from the tri-state area who will display their legendary camaraderie and their fierce will to win in any weather on three rugby “pitches” near the east park reservoir in Fairmount Park. The matches are played at Edgeley Fields, located at Reservoir Drive and N. Randolph Drive, across from the historic Laurel Hill Mansion. Spectators are FREE and there is ample free parking nearby.

100% of the funds raised are donated to the charity. Both the referees and the athletic trainers on the sidelines donate their time and talents. Held on the day after Thanksgiving every year, the “Apple Pie” 7s tournament was established in memory of an inspirational local college rugby player. Josias Sterling of Olney, a well-loved 19-year old Temple University student, became caught in a riptide in Ocean City in the summer of 2009. Despite being physically strong and merely walking in knee-deep water, he was pulled out with the current and tragically lost his life. He had never learned to swim.

To honor their friend and to try to prevent similar tragedies, the Philadelphia rugby community joined together in 2009 and established a charitable fund to teach water safety in Sterling’s memory. This annual rugby 7s competition, the primary fundraiser, is now a firmly established event. The reference to apple pie in the event name is an affectionate nod to Sterling’s love for apple pie snacks. This year, Philadelphia’s hometown TASTYKAKE bakeries will once again donate hundreds of its popular apple pies to the tournament to be enjoyed by the many teams and fans coming out in support of this life-saving charity.

Now in the sixth year of its work, the Josias A. Sterling Memorial Fund supports water safety training for individuals from ages three through adult. The director of the swimming program at the Kroc Center, famed Philadelphia competitive swimming coach Jim Ellis, notes that: “10 people die every day of drowning in this country and the majority of them are people of color. The work done by this charity is literally saving lives. It also launches the opportunity for one of the healthiest life-long activities, as swimmers enjoy the water for both fun and fitness.”

Competition begins after the invocation at 11:30 a.m. and will wrap up around 3 p.m. For more information on the upcoming 2014 tournament, please visit our general information FACEBOOK page for the Apple Pie 7s. A video about the tournament is viewable at YouTube at this link: http://youtu.be/lifX4kQ5vLE To learn more about the Josias A. Sterling Aquatic Education Program, or to make a contribution to the charitable memorial fund in his memory please visit: www.josiassterling.org

The Josias A. Sterling Memorial Fund, a 501.c.3, is established as a division of CHARITYSMITH

non-profit foundation. www.charitysmith.org EIN: 87-0636433