The 2026 Beerfoot Beach 7-on-7 rugby tournament will be held on the beach behind DiamondHead Resort this year. The annual tournament is held every year on Fort Myers Beach and brings hundreds of players and spectators to the island.
Tournament organizer Jeremy Ray tells Beach Talk Radio there are 30 teams again this year. “We had 30 teams last year. 31 teams had planned to come this year, but one had to pull out for financial reasons. If it’s any indication of how much our guests love coming to Fort Myers Beach, we are the only tournament in Florida that did not reduce in size of registered teams in 2026. On top of that, we are also the largest rugby tournament in the state, and by all accounts, the entire country. Additionally, We are also the last event of the season in Florida. In our polling, only invitational or limited size tournaments were to not reduced in size in 2026. We assume economic factors played a major part in participation of rugby tournaments across the country. We are very lucky that Fort Myers Beach is such a great place to host the tournament and attract attendees that decided not to participate this summer in other regional events.”
The last two years the event was held at Crescent Park. However, the park upgrades include pavers, cement seating, and several small band shell areas. Before the $1.3 million project, the park was completely sand. For many years, the tournament was held at The Wyndham Hotel on the south end.
The tournament is followed up with a pub crawl bringing additional revenue to beach businesses during a very slow month.
The Fort Myers Beach Woman’s Club will be parking cars in the Estero Island Beach Club parking lot for a $20 donation.