BARBADOS has a tough assignment if they are to make it out of their pool when the Barbados Rugby Football Union (BRFU) host the 2011 DHL North America Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) Rugby Sevens Championships at the Historic Garrison Savannah in Barbados on November 12-13.

With 16 teams in the men’s division, there are four teams in each of the four Pools and Barbados is in Pool B with last year’s runners up Jamaica and another strong team in Martinique.

Though the final squad has not been selected as yet, President of the BRFU George Nicholson said that they are looking to the future of the sport and Barbados rising to the top in the next 10 years. It is because of this that the final team selected from the 18-member training squad at the moment will be a young one as they also are looking to tap into the Under-19 team that played recently this year.

The BRFU announced the launch of the tournament yesterday at the Barbados Olympic Association and with 27 teams from 16 territories scheduled to participate, this event will be the largest ever 7-a-side tournament in NACRA history.

It is costing the local organisation in the region of $56 000 to host this tournament which Barbados highest placing has been ninth.
The winner gets an invitation to the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens World Series in Las Vegas.

The defending champions is Guyana who are the reigning champions in both the men’s and women’s division. Guyana’s men’s team have won the tournament for the last five years and will be hard to beat once again.

Last year perennial winners Trinidad and Tobago was upset by Guyana in the final and they will be looking to return to the top once again. This is sure to be a battle to watch as the women’s side of the tournament progress.

Only the top two teams advance to the quarter finals while the bottom two move on to play in the plate rounds.
DHL was the title sponsor of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, so the profile of the NACRA 7s will receive a major boost from their involvement.

This ground-breaking sporting event will be streamed live on the Internet on both days of the tournament, and will feature professional commentary by Nick Jordan, who is a specialist international Sevens Rugby reporter. The website for anyone wishing to view the tournament is www.dhlnacrasevens.com and will be hosted by Jordan who will be in Barbados as a guest of the BTA and the TDC and will also be producing general interest segments on Barbados and its attractions as part of his reporting on the event.
With 25 visiting teams comprising, on average, 15 people each, it also means 375 sports tourism visitors in Barbados, plus an unknown number of spouses, friends and spectators, for this action-packed weekend.
By leveraging the available technology to provide live streaming, the BRFU is maximising Barbados’ international exposure and helping to promote the island and its attractions in a very tangible way. Local tourism stakeholders are already booking commercials to advertise their product, as we expect to have thousands of overseas viewers avidly following the action at Barbados’ premier World Heritage Site.
There is no admission for spectators and there will be two pitches for the matches which are slated to kick off at 8:20 a.m. with the final game on the day slated to start at 5:20 p.m.
The final is slated for Sunday, with the women’s taking place at 4:20 p.m. and the men’s at 4:50 p.m.
Sponsors for the tournament are: Title Sponsor: DHL International; Lead sponsors: Banks Breweries Limited, Barbados Tourism Authority, Barbados Olympic Association, and Tourism Development Corporation; Sponsors: JADA Builders Limited, TeleBarbados Inc., Trident Insurance Company, and ELLCO Rentals.

-Corey Greaves

Source: www.barbadosadvocate.com