The New Year will see the CRFU embark on possibly the most demanding season since rugby became an organised national sport in the Cayman Islands back in 1971.


Probably the highlight of the year will be the NAWIRA qualifiers to be held over 19-27 April.


The first major tournament of 2008 kicks off on 19 January with the first play in the annual Alex Alexander Memorial League Championship and Knock Out Shield, sponsored by the Waterford Private residence Club, which runs concurrently with the Women’s Rugby Season until the finals on 24 May.


Other local competitions include the Maples & Calder Outreach National Tournament starting on 9 February, the Cable & Wireless Summer Sevens taking place between 6 September and 1 November, the RE/MAX Knackerfest over 7-9 November and the annual AR Scott Hurricane Tens beginning on 22 November.


Training for the National XV’s Academy starts on 13 January and several other tournaments still have to be scheduled.


Source: Cayman Net News

Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia 'Babsy' Grange on, January 10, 2008, presented a sponsorship cheque to the Jamaica Rugby Team to assist with their preparation for the International Rugby Board (IRB) Youth World Championship slated for Santiago, Chile, April 9-30, 2008.

In presenting the cheque to Chairman of the Jamaica Rugby Union Mr. Jacob Thompson, Minister Grange commended the team for its hard work and dedication to the development of the sport for over 30 years.


She acknowledged the team's achievement and commended them on receiving the IRB trophy, the second highest award given out by the organization and for being the only team outside of Europe to receive the award.


Jamaica is the first and only English speaking country to qualify for the event, joining other countries such as Uruguay, Romania, Namibia and Korea. Thirty two members of the team are now in training with a final 26 to be selected to represent the country at the Chile games.

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What do these kids have in common?

That's right, they're all, erm....playing rugby

The New Year sees the introduction of rugby into the Grand Cayman communities for the first time in the history of the Cayman Rugby Football Union (CRFU).


Over the last seven years, junior rugby has become an integral part of the schools calendar, backed up by a regular Saturday morning programme at the South Sound Rugby Ground.


From January 2008, the communities of Bodden Town, East End, West Bay and Prospect, plus the already established Saturday programme will be targeted for community programme rugby development.


The aim of the Maples and Calder-sponsored programme is to create ‘Community’ based rugby teams and programmes, which will become part of an island league that will compete in regular Cayman Islands round robin based championships.


The target age groups will be girls and boys between 10 and 16 years of age. The focus of the development initially will be the Seven-a-Side game, as this is a huge participatory version of the game throughout the West Indies, with annual men and women’s regional.


Times and days for each community;


Monday- East End Community Field 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm.
Tuesday- West Bay (John A Cumber School) 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm.

Wednesday- Prospect (Prospect Primary School) 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm.
Friday- Bodden Town (BT Primary School) 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm.

Saturday- South Sound Road Rugby Facility 8:30 am to 10:00 am.


All programmes will start on the third week of January, week commencing 21 January.


Source: Cayman Net News

The Cayman Rugby Union has announced that the Cayman Islands was successful in a bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup regional Qualification tournament. The competition will come right on the heels of the 2007 U19 world cup qualifier that was held here with great success in June.


The tournament will take place between April 19th and 27th, 2008 and as many as three hundred and fifty players, officials and coaches are expected to attend in the form of eleven international teams that will include Mexico, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, St Vincent, Guyana and British Virgin Islands showcasing both the Cayman Rugby programs and the Cayman Islands themselves as a sports tourism destination.


The Cayman Rugby Union is delighted with the decision of NAWIRA and the IRB.

”I am delighted with the news, it is very unusual that a country would be awarded two world cup tournaments in a row and just goes to show what a marvelous job we did with the U20’s in June and just how much the International Rugby Board and the North American West Indies Rugby Association believe in our rugby program’s here and the boost that hosting such tournaments brings to a nation in terms of development and publicity both locally and globally,”

said Technical Director Richard Adams.

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For the real article, click here. It just shows that we're not the only ones who have to deal with the petty minded.