The Tribune

THE Freeport Rugby Club has declared its third annual Junior Rugby International Tournament “a great success”.

Travelling to the Bahamas were teams from the Cayman Islands and America. All showed great sportsmanship and it was obvious they all enjoyed themselves, organisers said.

There were teams from under nine to 16 years old.

Last Friday night there was a welcome pizza party. Eighty pizzas were delivered to the club and while eating, the children all got to get to know one another.

One organiser said: “When the coaches and teams arrived they ran onto the pitch and all of a sudden the field was filled with young rugby players. It was really cool to see so many people there playing on the field and just having fun.”

On Saturday there were games all day. They all started on time and the organisers did a great job of sticking to the planned schedule, getting all the games finished by 5pm so everyone could then watch an exhibition game played by the Golden Oldies, teams made up of men over 35.

The Golden Oldies result was a shock to everyone watching, as Key Biscayne thrashed the combined Cayman-Bahamas team.

Most people did not realise that the Key Biscayne team had players who were ex-Argentinian national players. It was exciting to watch but clear to see that they had much more experience and must have practiced all the time as they outclassed the opposition.

The Bahamas Junior teams played very well. They were very quick on the break and showed a lot of natural talent, club members said.

Some were surprised to see two girls playing for Cayman, but when they got out on the pitch, they proved they could hold their own.

The Cayman coaches explained that ladies rugby is growing around the world and is very entertaining to watch.

On Sunday there was a Barbarian style competition for the Under 13s, where all the three countries joined together to produce four teams who played each other.

The final scores on this day were ignored because it was no longer a competition against countries but purely for the love of the game.

“This weekend was brilliant. The parents from Key Biscayne and Cayman should be congratulated for making the effort to come up to Freeport and for helping put on such a great tournament, without them we would not of had a one. It was also great to see so many people from Freeport come out and support the club and teams. Many of the travelling teams said that it was a fantastic weekend and they would be definitely coming back next year,” one of the organisers said.

Results:

Under 9s – Key Biscayne won with two wins. First, Key Biscayne; second, Freeport; third, Cayman.

Under 11s – Key Biscayne won with two wins. First Key, Biscayne; second, Freeport; third, Cayman.

Under 13s – There were two teams from Cayman, their first team won with three wins. First, Cayman 1; second, Freeport and Key Biscayne; third, Cayman 2.

Under 15s – There were two teams from Freeport. Their first team won with two wins. First, Freeport 1; second, Cayman and Key Biscayne; third, Freeport 2.