– GRFU sends out SOS to corporate Guyana
By Rawle Toney
For the first time since their existence, Guyana’s national male Seven Rugby team has the best opportunity ever of qualifying for the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens Rugby World Cup (RWC) when they compete in the North American and West Indies Rugby Association (NAWIRA) Sevens World Cup qualifiers from October 25th-26th in the Bahamas.
Eleven male and nine female teams will contest the NAWIRA qualifier, with the aim to secure one of two places available from both competitions for the IRB Sevens World Cup which is slated to take place in Dubai in March next year.
In the men’s competition, the USA who have replaced Canada as a core member of the IRB Sevens World Series in 2008-2009 have been drawn in Pool A with Mexico and Bermuda, while Canada head Pool B with Trinidad & Tobago, Cayman Islands and the Bahamas.
Reigning Caribbean Sevens champions Guyana will be entering the event ranked as number three behind Canada and the USA and will be joined in Pool C by Jamaica, whom they defeated in the last two Caribbean Sevens finals, Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
At a press conference held at the office of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) yesterday, president of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) Noel Adonis stated that with Guyana being highly ranked entering the event, and being given a chance to play against countries that they had defeated easily in the past, this could be a once in a life time opportunity for them to make it to the World Cup, the pinnacle of the Sevens event.
Funding problem
As is the case with many other sports discipline which are non- profit, the issue of securing the necessary funding is now a major problem. And the GRFU says this is preventing them from properly preparing the two teams for the NAWIRA tournament.
The trip to the Bahamas will cost the GRFU close to $8.5M and so far they have only secured assistance from the IRB to help offset travelling expenses, but a huge hole is still left to be filled.
Public Relations and Marketing Consultant of the GRFU, Christopher ‘Kit’ Nascimento said that so far they have written to 12 businesses but only three have given the GRFU a response with one of these being positive.
Nascimento, who is also president of NAWIRA, mentioned that they had spoken to Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony and Director of Sports at the National Sports Commission (NSC) Neil Kumar four months ago and they had promised to offer assistance to the GRFU.
Guyana have participated in several tournaments this year both at home and overseas. They competed in the men’s 15’s championship in the Cayman Islands where they placed second to Jamaica, followed by the women’s 15’s championships which they hosted and placed second to Trinidad and Tobago.
The NAWIRA under-20 championships was held in Barbados, and once again, Guyana were very successful at this tournament which Nascimento said has put a deep hole in the pockets of the GRFU.
Therefore, a call is being made to corporate Guyana for a show of support while noting that rugby has brought great national pride to Guyana over the years.
Meanwhile, the team has been under the watchful eyes of coaches Alton Agard (females) and Sherlock Solomon (males) and both coaches stated that the lack of funding is preventing them from properly preparing the team since they will need to play at least one Warm-up match against a strong opponent prior to the qualifiers.
North American power houses Canada and the USA have played eight sevens games this year so far, in comparison to Guyana who is yet to play a game in this category due to a lack of funds.
Already, two countries in the Caribbean have been named by the GRFU who will give Guyana the required practice they need, but like Guyana, both countries face the same financial problem and so the only option will be to travel, an idea that they will have to cancel since it’s already hard to find the funds to attend the qualifiers.
The male team from whom much is expected will feature some of the best ruggers the country has to offer, both locally and overseas, as Guyana will be blessed with the presence of Claudius Butts, Theodore Henry, Richard Staglon and Ronald Myers, all of whom play in Trinidad and Tobago, along with USA-based Mark Webster and Kevin McKenzie who plays professionally in Ireland.
Coach Solomon stated that even though these players are playing overseas, the level of their fitness is yet to be determined, but nevertheless he’s confident that they will give a full account of themselves.
On the other side, the females who will be grouped with Jamaica and Bermuda, have commenced training and are improving as the day passes, according to their coach Agard who stated that the females will be looking to improve on their weak areas in order to make Guyana proud.
The coaches will be given a boost with the arrival of Canadian- based Guyanese coach Spencer Robinson who has been the head coach for Canada’s Women’s Sevens team and was the assistant coach for the men’s side.
His knowledge and experience at this format of the game is most welcomed by the GRFU, since Canada is the only North American side to play at all four formats of the Sevens World Cup.
Only the top two teams from the NAWIRA qualifiers will make it to the IRB/RWC and Guyana are aiming to at least make it to the finals, which guarantees them a place in the 2009 IRB/RWC but the clear favourites to come out on top are Canada and the USA.
For the first time since their existence, Guyana’s national male Seven Rugby team has the best opportunity ever of qualifying for the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens Rugby World Cup (RWC) when they compete in the North American and West Indies Rugby Association (NAWIRA) Sevens World Cup qualifiers from October 25th-26th in the Bahamas.
Eleven male and nine female teams will contest the NAWIRA qualifier, with the aim to secure one of two places available from both competitions for the IRB Sevens World Cup which is slated to take place in Dubai in March next year.
In the men’s competition, the USA who have replaced Canada as a core member of the IRB Sevens World Series in 2008-2009 have been drawn in Pool A with Mexico and Bermuda, while Canada head Pool B with Trinidad & Tobago, Cayman Islands and the Bahamas.
Reigning Caribbean Sevens champions Guyana will be entering the event ranked as number three behind Canada and the USA and will be joined in Pool C by Jamaica, whom they defeated in the last two Caribbean Sevens finals, Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
At a press conference held at the office of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) yesterday, president of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) Noel Adonis stated that with Guyana being highly ranked entering the event, and being given a chance to play against countries that they had defeated easily in the past, this could be a once in a life time opportunity for them to make it to the World Cup, the pinnacle of the Sevens event.
Funding problem
As is the case with many other sports discipline which are non- profit, the issue of securing the necessary funding is now a major problem. And the GRFU says this is preventing them from properly preparing the two teams for the NAWIRA tournament.
The trip to the Bahamas will cost the GRFU close to $8.5M and so far they have only secured assistance from the IRB to help offset travelling expenses, but a huge hole is still left to be filled.
Public Relations and Marketing Consultant of the GRFU, Christopher ‘Kit’ Nascimento said that so far they have written to 12 businesses but only three have given the GRFU a response with one of these being positive.
Nascimento, who is also president of NAWIRA, mentioned that they had spoken to Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony and Director of Sports at the National Sports Commission (NSC) Neil Kumar four months ago and they had promised to offer assistance to the GRFU.
Guyana have participated in several tournaments this year both at home and overseas. They competed in the men’s 15’s championship in the Cayman Islands where they placed second to Jamaica, followed by the women’s 15’s championships which they hosted and placed second to Trinidad and Tobago.
The NAWIRA under-20 championships was held in Barbados, and once again, Guyana were very successful at this tournament which Nascimento said has put a deep hole in the pockets of the GRFU.
Therefore, a call is being made to corporate Guyana for a show of support while noting that rugby has brought great national pride to Guyana over the years.
Meanwhile, the team has been under the watchful eyes of coaches Alton Agard (females) and Sherlock Solomon (males) and both coaches stated that the lack of funding is preventing them from properly preparing the team since they will need to play at least one Warm-up match against a strong opponent prior to the qualifiers.
North American power houses Canada and the USA have played eight sevens games this year so far, in comparison to Guyana who is yet to play a game in this category due to a lack of funds.
Already, two countries in the Caribbean have been named by the GRFU who will give Guyana the required practice they need, but like Guyana, both countries face the same financial problem and so the only option will be to travel, an idea that they will have to cancel since it’s already hard to find the funds to attend the qualifiers.
The male team from whom much is expected will feature some of the best ruggers the country has to offer, both locally and overseas, as Guyana will be blessed with the presence of Claudius Butts, Theodore Henry, Richard Staglon and Ronald Myers, all of whom play in Trinidad and Tobago, along with USA-based Mark Webster and Kevin McKenzie who plays professionally in Ireland.
Coach Solomon stated that even though these players are playing overseas, the level of their fitness is yet to be determined, but nevertheless he’s confident that they will give a full account of themselves.
On the other side, the females who will be grouped with Jamaica and Bermuda, have commenced training and are improving as the day passes, according to their coach Agard who stated that the females will be looking to improve on their weak areas in order to make Guyana proud.
The coaches will be given a boost with the arrival of Canadian- based Guyanese coach Spencer Robinson who has been the head coach for Canada’s Women’s Sevens team and was the assistant coach for the men’s side.
His knowledge and experience at this format of the game is most welcomed by the GRFU, since Canada is the only North American side to play at all four formats of the Sevens World Cup.
Only the top two teams from the NAWIRA qualifiers will make it to the IRB/RWC and Guyana are aiming to at least make it to the finals, which guarantees them a place in the 2009 IRB/RWC but the clear favourites to come out on top are Canada and the USA.
