The Bahamas men's national rugby team has quite a task ahead, with the North American Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) Sevens Championships rapidly approaching.

The championships, set for November 14-15 in Mexico City, Mexico, serves as a qualifier for more than three tournaments next year. A win will automatically qualify the Bahamas men's team for the Commonwealth Games, USA Sevens and the Pan American Games. A fifth place finish at this tournament or better will qualify Team Bahamas for the Central American and Caribbean Games.

Director of the Bahamas Rugby Football Union (BRFU) Elystan Miles knows that a lot is at risk for the squad, but is confident that they can win the tournament.

"This is the highest stakes we have every played for," said Miles. "This is the first time that we have ever done it like this, where there are so many different tournaments to qualify for. That is why we are pretty determined to win this. We haven't seen Guyana, Trinidad or Jamaica and these are pretty much the powerhouses in the region. If everyone fires on all cylinders, I think we have a good chance of winning the whole thing. We have some of the best players in the region. Four guys on our team have played on the West Indies team. That is four of the seven so we have an excellent team here.

"The team has been training very hard, but we also know that Guyana is a very tough team to beat. They have been training hard, so has Trinidad and Tobago, but we're in the best shape that we have ever been in, even though I am pretty sure that these other countries are going to be too."

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