From Bahama Islands info By Tom Purvis

Next weekend, 11th and 12th May, the Freeport Rugby Club will be holding their 3rd Annual Junior Rugby International Tournament.

Teams from the ages of 8 to 16 are coming from The Cayman Islands and Key Biscayne, Florida to play with the teams in Freeport.

Every year the Cayman teams come and this year they will bring their largest group ever of one hundred and twenty players, coaches and supporters! They have actually chartered their own jet to get here.

Key Biscayne are also bringing one hundred and twenty people down to visit the Bahamas with seventy-five kids ready to play hard for their club, The KB Rugby Rats.

As well as watching the kids play rugby you can also cheer on the Dads who will play in a Golden Oldies match, for men over 35 years of age.

This weekend event will be great because the kids who train in Freeport every week will get to enjoy the game all weekend and hang out with the kids from other countries. Making new friends is part of sport and on top of that they will get to enjoy a BBQ and pool party too.

The coach Nigel Kirkby said “Our boys have been training every Saturday morning and have worked really hard to learn all the skills. It’ll be a fantastic opportunity for the boys to meet new friends and enjoy playing some rugby.”

The first event will start on May 11th at 9:30 am. The games will continue until 4:30 pm for a round robin competition. The Golden Oldies game starts at 5pm.

On May 12th the finals will be held between the Under 9s, Under 10s, Under 13s, Under 15s and Under 16s. The teams will play from 9:30am until 1:00pm.

Rob Speller, President of the Freeport Rugby and Football Club, said “We look forward to a wonderful weekend of Youth Rugby, thanks to Cayman and Key Biscayne for making the festival possible. We hope all the parents and families will come out and support the kids on Saturday and Sunday.”

Next weekend will be great event. I think everyone should support the Freeport Rugby Club and the players that are visiting. The visiting teams are bringing along supporters and we should too.

SCHEDULE (submitted by Rob Speller):

Friday May 10th – Welcome Social at the Club for Cayman / Key Biscayne – Please join us from 5pm – 8pm for a drink.

Saturday May 11th 9.30am – 4pm – Tournament Starts at 9.30am and runs through until around 4pm for all junior age groups. We’ll have food vendors / snack bar and BBQ running all day say please make an effort to come and support the day.

Saturday May 11th 5.00pm – 6pm – Golden Oldies Bahamas / Cayman V Key Biscayne Old Boys – Fantastic chance to see some of the legends of the past walk / jog and crawl through a veterans game. Always very entertaining!

Saturday May 11th – 6pm – Until – Evening Social with Steak Dinner (Only $10). Should be a fun night. Please come along for an early dinner and enjoy the entertainment. Andrea Thompson is putting the dinner together and it should be great evening for all. Please contact Andrea on 373 4139 or email [email protected] for tickets etc. As ever we would like to know approximate numbers for Andrea and the caterers.

Sunday May 12 – 9.30am – 12.30am – Finals and fun games for the Juniors and the snack / bar and BBQ will all be going!

BahamaIslandsInfo.com’s new featured sports columnist Tom Purvis is an avid sports enthusiast.  At age 13, he attends Lucaya International High School in Year 8.  His parents are hoping that by putting pen to paper Tom can share his love of sports, tell more people about sports, and hopefully improve his English writing skills. Tom loves feedback and welcomes any questions.  Send your comments to: [email protected]