Winning their seventh NACRA 7s championship last Thursday in Mexico was the first key step for the national men’s rugby team to clinch an Olympic berth in 2016 but many more strides have to be taken on the road to qualifying for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) however faces some speed bumps in the form of finances and the services of a high-level coach.
According to patron of the union, Kit Nascimento yesterday, the road to Rio could be made much smoother with funding in the neighbourhood of $US50, 000 which will be used to employ a world class coach, attend high level tournaments and accrue the services of overseas-based players.
During the press briefing at GOA’s Kingston headquarters, Nascimento who was instrumental in garnering sponsorship for the Mexico sojourn, pointed out that Guyana is the best in the Caribbean but in order to qualify for the Olympics, the ruggers will need to be the best in the Caribbean and North America.
In order for the local outfit to qualify for the Olympics, they would have to defeat powerhouses, USA and Canada at the NACRA Championships in June at a venue in North America.
Funding and the services of an experienced coach manning the sidelines will be needed for the task ahead in six months.
The union patron pointed out that “In Mexico we had a coach (Theo Henry) who played, we do not have as every other team competing to go to the Olympics a high-level coach.
We need to have a high-level coach so that we would not give away 21 points in the first half, that shows we have a problem in our defence we need a lot more training and competing together to be ready to defend against teams better than Mexico.” Before the NACRA Championships, the union’s plan is for the team to compete at the Elite Men’s 7s Invitational in Las Vegas, Nevada, a three-day tournament from February 11 and the Hong Kong 7s in three months. The tournaments will serve as the perfect warm up for the NACRA Championships but funding will obviously be needed.
“It is important that we attend those tournaments because of the preparation it will give us”, said Nascimento.
“It gives us the opportunity to compete against some of the best teams in the world and once properly prepared we will be ready for the qualifier in June but we will need the funding.”
Nascimento highlighted that “this is a costly business, when you get into the international level you have international prices attached to it”. He added that he would once again be approaching the government and the private sector to make the road to Rio a little smoother.
Before the tournament in Mexico, the government of Guyana presented US$20,000 to the union to offset expenses. The GOA, the Beharry Group of Companies and other entities also provided sponsorship.
Guyana lifted their seventh championship 33-28 last Thursday in Mexico City after storming back from a 14-point deficit (7-21) at half time.
Brief remarks were also made yesterday by president of the GRFU, Peter Green and Henry. (Emmerson Campbell)
