Memphis Blues Rugby Club – Memphis Flyer

Jack Albert, 18, just played his first Elvis 7s Rugby Tournament, which was held August 3rd at McBride Rugby Field at Tobey Park.

“I thought it was really cool,” says Albert, who plays in the Eureka Kings (no Elvis affiliation) Rugby club in St. Louis, Missouri.

“It was fun to just enjoy the music and the environment and get to play the sport I love at the same time,” he says.

The music that played during the games was mostly recorded Elvis standards, as well as a mix of other artists. The event, presented by the Memphis Blues Rugby Club, features a sideburns contest and Elvis-themed prizes.

**Juliette Robinson, Gabrielle Naples, and Meredith Feltenstein**

Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line” was played. “I think they only played that once,” says Albert. “We were walking on the field and that song came on.” Or, in rugby lingo, “I was about to go pour out my heart on the pitch, leave it on the field.”

Albert wore protective covering on his right leg so he wouldn’t mess up his new tattoo. It’s an anime symbol “from Berserk” and basically means, “Everybody has a bigger purpose in life and you’re destined for greater things than what you think.”

Wearing a tropical-patterned shirt, bushy-chopped Kevin Hayes could have sung Blue Hawaii in the Mr. Sideburns contest at the Elvis 7s rugby tournament.

Instead, he sang Hound Dog.

And Hayes, a graduate student at the University of Memphis, won. Which also made him “The King.” For a day, at least.

Kevin Hayes was voted “Mr. SIdeburns” at the Elvis 7s rugby tournament (Credit: Spencer Hansen)

The Mr. Sideburns contest is part of the annual Elvis-themed rugby tournament, during which ruggers play the game while Elvis recordings play in the background. They also take part in Elvis trivia during the day. As part of the sideburns contest, they are required to sing part of an Elvis song.

Elvis 7s, which was held August 7th, went back to its roots. In recent years, the event was held at the USA Stadium in Millington. This year, the tournament, hosted and organized by the Memphis Blues Rugby Club, was back at McBride Rugby Field in Tobey Park.

Rugby player Kyle Baker and his mom, Kim Hodge at Elvis 7s (Credit: Spencer Hansen)

Ten teams from Florida, Alabama, and Arkansas as well as Tennessee participated in the tournament, which drew around 150 people, says Larry Magdovitz, a Memphis attorney and rugby player.

Each year, Magdovitz portrays the King at Elvis 7s. “I think I started doing it 2003 or ’04,” Magdovitz says.

He became emcee that first year because he was the one who “volunteered to pick up the sound equipment” and “was the one who was told how to put it together.”

Magdovitz began dressing as The King the next year. “They needed to have an Elvis and I cannot pass up an unattended microphone. If there’s an unattended microphone around, I’ll find it.”

Kevin Blackwell — now a state senator in North Mississippi for DeSoto County — was his original co-host.

Even in sweltering heat, Magdovitz has donned the Elvis jumpsuit, complete with cape. “I am on my fourth jumpsuit.”

His wife, Nouth, “still makes the Mr. Sideburns sash for the winner, including this year,” Magdovitz says.

Everyone had a good time at this year’s Elvis 7s, Magdovitz says. People came up to him and said it was “so nice to be back in Tobey field instead of Millington.”

And, Magdovitz says, “It was a great day. The weather was cooperative. We had two food trucks out there. It was a nice time.”