a combat peer support group<\/a>, a second-floor museum and even had a yoga\/meditation class for veterans.<\/p>\nHeld on Saturday, Leahy said there wasn\u2019t a great turnout this year because there were an unusual amount of other events happening at the same time.<\/p>\n
While 18 participated in the tournament, he said usually, there\u2019s closer to 40.<\/p>\n
The day starts with Lisa Parks singing the national anthem, then Leahy reads the rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody uses the same shoes,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we first started, we didn\u2019t have really good shoes. Guys then pitched in money to buy new ones for our tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year, there was a memorial set up for those involved in the event who have died, including the founder, Matt Brady, and Jay Maldonado, John Gasner and Diane Turner.<\/p>\n
Leahy said participants come from near and far, with guys coming from Chester and Lancaster to take their chance on the pit.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never know who you\u2019re going to get,\u201d\u00a0 he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t know who\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/DTD-L-SECANE-0902-01.jpeg\")
The Sands of Secane horseshoe tournament has been held at the Upper Darby Detachment No. 884 of the Marine Corps League for the past 12 years. (KATHLEEN E. CAREY \u2013 DAILY TIMES)<\/p>\n
People can come to play as individuals or as teams. It costs $40 for each person to play and $20 to attend and eat and drink and spectate.<\/p>\n
Prizes include $250 for the winners; $160 for second place and $90 for third.<\/p>\n
Leahy said people enjoy sitting on the detachment\u2019s deck and watching the games. And, there\u2019s a 50\/50 too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say its one of the better tournaments in the area: the refreshments, the environment,\u201d Leahy said, adding that the second place winner this year even donated half of their winnings back to the detachment.<\/p>\n
This year, the detachment made just under $1,000, thanks in part to a $500 donation from Leahy\u2019s sister, Mary Brady, Matt\u2019s widow.<\/p>\n
Leahy was appreciative of the help he receives, including the volunteers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen there\u2019s \u2026 40 players, it\u2019s very hectic,\u201d he explained. \u201cI can\u2019t get a minute to eat a hot dog. It takes a lot of guys to run this.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Upper](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/DTD-L-SECANE-0902-03.jpeg\")
Upper Darby Detachment member Mark Reeves winds up for his toss at the Sands of Secane horseshoe tournament. (COURTESY OF PETE LEAHY)<\/p>\n
He said there\u2019s two or three at the sign in table, another person running the horseshoes and two or three people cooking in the kitchen, plus set up in the morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe start getting ready for this at the end of July,\u201d Leahy said, noting that\u2019s when they weed the pits to get them prepared for the day.<\/p>\n
Held the Saturday before Labor Day weekend, the Sands of Secane is on the Upper Darby detachment\u2019s calendar for 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to be doing it again next year,\u201d Leahy said. \u201cIt is good. It\u2019s all worth\u00a0 it. At the end of the day, it\u2019s very well worth it because everyone has a really good time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twelve years ago, a horseshoe aficionado wanted to expand the opportunities to delve into his hobbies and it\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[212,182,139,28,210,147,149,148,150],"class_list":["post-277794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upper-darby","tag-delaware-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-top-stories-dtd","tag-upper-darby","tag-upper-darby-headlines","tag-upper-darby-news","tag-upper-darby-township"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"One](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/DTD-L-SECANE-0902-05.jpeg\")
One of the four memorials at the tournament this year was for Matt Brady, a longtime supporter of the Upper Darby Detachment, and a founder of the event. (COURTESY OF PETE LEAHY)<\/p>\n