Get Into Rugby (GIR) Barbados – an initiative of World Rugby and the Barbados Rugby Football Union (BRFU) will be hosting two important events aimed at exposing more people to the excitement and fun of rugby.
On Monday, June 20, the GIR Barbados GIR Touch Rugby Secondary School Tournament will kick off at 1:00pm at the Harrison College pitch, Crumpton Street, Bridgetown. The secondary schools taking part are: Harrison College, Queen’s College (winners of the last such event in 2015), Christ Church Foundation School, Deighton Griffith Secondary School and Princess Margaret Secondary School. 75 student athletes are expected to take part and the excitement is building. This tournament is touch rugby only, no tackling, as most of the participants are relatively new to the sport and GIR Barbados places safety above all else, conforming strictly to the guidelines set out by World Rugby, the governing body of rugby union.
On Saturday, June 25, the primary schools will have their day in the sun with the GIR Touch Rugby Primary School Tournament at the Historic Garrison Savannah pitch, traditional home of rugby in Barbados. Kick off time for this event is 10:00am.
Schools taking part are: St. Philip Primary, Charles F. Broome Primary, Wesley Hall Primary, Blackman-Gollop Primary and St. George Primary.
Parents, guardians and friends are encouraged to attend and support the youngsters in this positive and healthy sporting activity.
The latest GIR Barbados statistics indicate that over 30 students from St. Philip Primary and more than 75 from Charles F. Broome are active in Get Into Rugby, providing a large pool of talents and future rugby players, should they decide to stay with the sport and progress to full contact and age-grade competition. GIR Barbados has been active in several primary and secondary schools since 2015, and enthusiasm is growing among the students, who enjoy the tag and touch rugby sessions immensely. Rugby requires very little in the way of special equipment for the players – a good pair of boots, to start with. As stated earlier, the beginners do not tackle – touch or tag only.
In July, the BRFU will be hosting the Bishop Anstey High School Girls Xs team for two matches at the Garrison, as part of their long-term plan to grow and develop the sport and to provide exposure for the local youth teams. Also in July-August, the BRFU will be holding a Sevens tournament for local teams, as a run up event to celebrating the debut of Rugby Sevens as an Olympic Sport at the Rio Olympics. Finally, in December, the inaugural Rugby World Barbados Sevens will take place in Holetown, with 20 senior men’s teams, 12 senior women’s teams, eight U20 men’s teams, eight U20 women’s teams expected to participate.