"It was like playing against Michael Jordan," noted Bahamas Rugby Football Union’s national team member Jeremico Cooper. He was summing up his experience after participating at the Deloitte Cayman’s Sevens Tournament June 9 –10 in the Cayman Islands.





Jeremico Cooper, a national team member from The Bahamas Rugby Football Union, recently returned from the Deloitte Cayman’s Sevens Tournament held last weekend in the Cayman Islands. Cooper was the only Bahamian representing the West Indies Sevens Side.

Cooper had a chance to play against world-class professionals who regularly participate on the International Rugby Board Sevens Circuit. The twenty-two year old was the second Bahamian ever to be named to the West Indies’ Rugby Team. Kevin Salabie was the first to be selected to the WI squad last year.


Cooper played in all of the games and his team finished with a win/loss record of 1 and 5. The overall winners were the Fiji Barbarians, which defeated the 2005 champions, Samurai, 23-5.


Now that Cooper is back home he will be busy training with the National Sevens’ team in preparation for the Cape Sevens Tournament set for the US next month.

"I intend to pass on the knowledge that I learned from my West Indies coach Joe Whipple. He taught us different strategies of sevens and the art of the game. I brought back a lot of information for The Bahamas National Seven’s Team. This knowledge will benefit us in the upcoming seven’s tournament," said Cooper.

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According to Cooper, playing in this tournament was more than he expected. He compared the level of play to the local league.

"It was good, I enjoyed myself and I learned a lot. The level of competition was tremendously high. Even the local veterans have not competed at that level," said Cooper.

Cooper said the highlight of the trip was playing against professional rugby stars.

"Some of the guys that I played against, I saw them play in the World Cup such as David Strettle from the English National Sevens Side and William Ryder from Fiji. There was so much emotion because I am such a big fan of them. When I saw these guys across from me I was just thinking, wow I just watched him play in the World Cup," Cooper said.

Someday Cooper expects to reach the level of his professional opponents but he pointed out that it takes a lot of work.

"Reaching that level of play is attainable. It takes a lot of commitment, dedication and support from sponsors as far as fitness is concerned. There is a lot of training that you have to go through to get at that level.
"The commitment also requires getting time off from work and early morning workouts. After a while, there is only so much that the body can take. So taking daily supplements is imperative to build the body back up. This is the difference between amateur and professional play," Cooper explained.

Source: Dahalia Smith in The Bahamas Journal