The national male and female 7s rugby outfits departed yesterday to compete in the 2015 NACRA Championships and Olympic Qualifiers which is scheduled to kick off on June 13 in Cary, North Carolina.
Their aim? To win their respective tournaments and clinch a berth at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
For the male team, the Road to Rio starts against the Bahamas at the Main Stadium at 11:22am while the female ruggers will tackle Trinidad and Tobago in their opening match at 12:06 pm at the Koka Booth Stadium.
The two-day tournament has 10 male teams (two groups of five) and eight female teams (two groups of four) competing for honors.
At the end of day one, the first two teams in each group go straight to the semifinals. The winner clinches an Olympic berth.
However, prior to their national duties, the teams will tackle other outfits in three warm up games each in New York.
Before departure, Stabroek Sport spoke to Coach of the male squad, Theo Henry and captain of the women’s team Carrin Carter. Both were optimistic of their charges’ chances at the championships.
“I have a lot of confidence in the girls” said Carter. “As our coach says, hard work is bitter but success is sweet. We have been working hard over the past couple of months and I hope that we come out victorious.”
Henry stated that “the guys are very optimistic and pumped up and ready to go. We have put in a lot of work over the last six weeks and they guys are eager to go out there and represent.”
Guyana was drawn in Pool B where they will face Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Canada and the Cayman Islands. The group is tough one but the dreadlocked Henry was adamant that he would not have it no other way.
“I actually like the group that we are in, there are no soft teams that you can relax on. Every game you have to play to its merit and go out there and give your best performance in every single game that is what this is about.” (Emmerson Campbell)
The touring contingents are as follows:
Men’s squad: Richard Staglon (Captain), Dwayne Schroeder, Vallon Adams, Claudius Butts, Patrick King, Ronald Mayers, Avery Corbin, Lancelot Adonis, Rickford Cummings, Ryan Gonsalves and Travis Bascom.
John Lewis (Manager)
Theo Henry (Coach)
Phillip Browne (Strength and Conditioning)
Women’s squad:Carrin Carter (Captain), Collette Hope, Sabola Gray, Carren Skeete, Andrea Lashley, Tricia Munroe, Helen Jarvis, Alicia Blackman, Cleotta Dublin, Olana Reece, Alanna Fraser and Ashanti Carrington.
Petal Adams (Manager)
Elwin Chase (Coach)
Abiola Blair (Physiotherapist)
Officials
Joseph Rahaman (Equipment Manager)
Daniel Anderson (Video Production)
Peter Green (President)
