Since Androsian Devon "Dan" Woodside left for England last August to play with the Luctonians, a leading rugby club in the English West Midlands, he has grown tremendously in the sport.



…In crucial trials

The 23 year old recently made the cut from 24 to 16 candidates for the Rugby West Indies Sevens Team (RWIST).


Others making up the team are natives of other Caribbean islands. The squad of 16 includes five Guyanese players, five Trinidadians, two Bajans, two Bermudians and one player from the British Virgin Islands.


The final set of trials to make the final team is set for this weekend, January 19 -21 in Trinidad and Tobago.


Immediately following the trials, a final 12-member RWIST will be announced to go up against the best rugby squads in the world at the International Rugby Board's Sevens World Series Championship.


The Championship is set for San Diego, California on February 10 and 11.


The RWIST is in Pool A with Fiji, Argentina and Scotland. Argentina will be the first match for the West Indies players.


Woodside is just one of the many talented young men who were developed in the Bahamas Rugby and Football Union's Youth Rugby programme.


Before Woodside left for England, National Sevens Coach Andrew Davies spoke of his wealth of raw talent which needed to be refined.


The road to selection to RWIST began when the rugby national team went to the North American and West Indies Rugby Association (NAWIRA) Digicel Caribbean Championships, which took place in Barbados in November.


While The Bahamas did not make the finals playing at NAWIRA, Woodside's dominance on the field made him stand out.


He was then invited to the Trinidad and Tobago Enthusiast Carib Invitational Sevens trials.


Although it seemed like a great opportunity to attend the trials at the time, challenges were ahead. Woodside is living in England. Traveling back and forth to the Caribbean for trials proved to be a financial burden.


But with the assistance of the BRFU, Woodside was able to attend the trials in Trinidad and Tobago where he made the recent cut.


The team manager appointed for the Rugby West Indies Sevens Team is Curtis Nero of the Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Football Union. The head coach is Joe Whipple of the Barbados Rugby Football Union.


Source: Dahalia Smith in The Bahama Journal