|
Monday, March 22, 2010
Remembering Dennis Shade Saturday was the kind of day former Harrisburg Rugby Club coach Dennis Shade would have loved. The sky was blue. The sun was shinning. The temperature was in the 70s. The best part of all was that the men of the Harrisburg Rugby Club and Shade’s native Erie were on the field across from the Farm Show Complex playing the sport he loved. On the sidelines, families and friends gathered to enjoy the friendly game in Shade’s honor.
Shade, Harrisburg’s rugby coach since 1986, died unexpectedly after suffering a heart attack following a game against the team’s archrival, Old Gaelic, in Carlisle in 2006.
“It was the biggest game of the year,” said Greg Ball, the president of the Harrisburg Rugby Club.
Every year since his death, Shade’s former teammates have held the rugby match with Erie to celebrate Shade and his love of the game.
“His life was rugby,” Ball said. “His favorite time was when he was at the rugby pitch.”
At the end of the game, Harrisburg had defeated Erie 32-15.
|
