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Memorial service, 7-on-7 football tourney to honor Larry Ginsburg on Saturday at Eastern

Some of Ginsburg’s former standouts, including Adam Taliaferro, Jimmer Bundy, and Marc Harrison, will be among those speaking on behalf of their former coach.

Larry Ginsburg, a highly successful South Jersey and Delaware football coach who started the Adam Taliaferro Foundation to help injured athletes, is shown relaxing in Florida in February 2020. He died about five months later.
Larry Ginsburg, a highly successful South Jersey and Delaware football coach who started the Adam Taliaferro Foundation to help injured athletes, is shown relaxing in Florida in February 2020. He died about five months later.Read moreSAM CARCHIDI / Staff

A memorial service for Larry Ginsburg, one of the region’s most successful high school football coaches, and a seven-on-seven tournament will be held Saturday at Eastern High in Voorhees.

The service and tournament are open to the public.

Ginsburg, 84, a graduate of Southern High in Philadelphia and West Chester University, died last July after complications from a blood disorder. He coached at Dover (Del.), Woodbury, and Eastern, compiling a 212-101-8 record in a championship-filed, 33-year career. The memorial service, which starts at 9 a.m., will be held on the football field and it will be followed by the tournament.

Some of Ginsburg’s former standouts, including Adam Taliaferro, Jimmer Bundy, and Marc Harrison, will be among those speaking on behalf of their former coach. Taliaferro starred at Eastern, Bundy and Harrison at Woodbury.

Many coaches and ex-coaches will also speak, including Jim Horner, Tom Iacovone, Donnie Olsen, Jim Boyd, and Frank Delano, and the Ginsburg family will be present.

The seven-on-seven tournament, the second annual Larry Ginsburg Football Classic, is sponsored by the Adam Taliaferro Foundation, which raises money and provides emotional support for athletes who suffer spinal injuries. The foundation has raised close to $2 million to assist countless athletes since it was formed in 2000.

Ginsburg started the foundation to help Taliaferro when he was paralyzed while making a tackle for Penn State in a 2000 game at Ohio State. Three doctors said he would never walk again. Miraculously, Taliaferro walked out of Magee Hospital about three months later.

The high school teams that have committed to play in the tournament: Paulsboro, Salem, Gloucester Catholic, Kingsway, Penns Grove, Collingswood, Woodstown, Gloucester, Oakcrest, Notre Dame of Lawrenceville, Absegami, Woodbury, Pitman, and Atlantic City.

Any area teams interested in competing should contact Gus Ostrum at @gostrum1981@gmail.com.