The Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) is down in the ruck pushing to change its recent run of mediocrity in an effort to return the sport and its players to its illustrious glory days.
“We are seeking to reorganize and prepare the union to participate in international events,” said Kit Nascimento who was recently returned as Patron of the GRFU.
“We are seeking to put Guyana’s rugby back on the world map,” the former president of the union added. A slew of personnel changes have been made by the union in an effort to complete a turnaround.
Last week during a press briefing at the GMR&SC Club House, Nascimento was formally reintroduced as Patron, a move which coincided with former national player, Claudius Butts, being introduced as the new coach of the national men’s 7s team.
Butts will be the man in charge of the play calling and getting his charges ready to play after former coach, Theo Henry stepped down to prepare the team in another capacity.
Henry, another former national standout player, was appointed as the strength and conditioning coach of the team, affectionately called the ’Green Machine’.
Further, former national captain, Ryan Gonsalves along with Robin Roberts and Peter Campayne have been brought onboard as union advisors.
The flurry of moves have been made to bolster the profile of the cash strapped union and its players according to Nascimento and President of the Union, Ryan Dey.
Nascimento stated that the U-19 Rugby Americas North (RAN) 7s Championship scheduled to be held in Jamaica in July along with the Grenada Rugby World 7s scheduled for November 30 to December 2, has been circled on the calendar for the national teams to tackle.
Competing at the international tournaments will come at a “significant cost” said Nascimento who stated that the ultimate aim is to “contest for a right to compete at the Olympics next year.”
Nascimento concluded by stating that “there is no doubt in my mind that Guyana will be able to field competitive teams” and put the nation back on the rugby map.
