Guyana has been identified to host this year’s Caribbean women’s 15-a-side Rugby championship in May and the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) has indicated that one country had already signalled its intention to participate.
GRFU President Noel Adonis told Stabroek Sport that the tournament sanctioned by the North American and West Indies Rugby Association (NAWIRA) would take place from May 3 to 10 at a venue to be identified.
According to Adonis, while the National Park would be the likely venue, the GRFU was exploring other possibilities for the regional event.
Adonis confirmed that Jamaica had already signalled their intention to participate in the tournament which is expected to attract the top women’s teams in the region.
“Hosting the regional women’s tournament will be a great achievement not only for rugby but also for women’s sport in Guyana in general,” the GRFU President had said during the bidding process.
The local women’s squad will be looking to improve their performance on home soil following their tough outing at last year’s NAWIRA Sevens in the Bahamas where they started creditably but faded in the later stage of the tournament, an area that has been identified for improvement by the local technical staff.
“The women did not perform so well in the Sevens tournament in the Bahamas, they played well on the first day but fell away on the second day,” said Adonis.
Adonis disclosed that the technical staff would be working on the fitness level and building on the players’ confidence.
Adonis also confirmed that the Regional men’s 15s tournament, a qualification series for the 2011 World 15s final will be played off from April 19 to 27 in the Cayman Islands.
The GRFU last week short listed a squad of 47 players to begin training under head coach Sherlock Solomon with the other members of the technical team being Barrington Brown and Clinton Clarke.
The players will undergo weight training at the Michael Parris Gym on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5:30 for the next two to three weeks.
At the end of the weight preparation, short listed player will move on to other aspects of training before the final squad of 20 players is named for the qualifiers in April.
