The Cayman Islands have announced their squad of 12 to compete at the NACRA (North America Caribbean Rugby Association) Sevens in Mexico City in November. The selection follows the conclusion of a six-week selection process under coaches Philip Fourie and Jason Scarff attended by 16 players who had been shortlisted for the tournament.
The Cayman Islands (pictured beach training left) will compete against Mexico, Guyana, Bahamas and Jamaica in the competition. Led by captain Joanne Ziegler, the Cayman Islands 7s team is a solid mix of experience, speed and strength and the squad features eight players making their international 7s debuts including Bernadette Beckles, who is also a member of the national 15s team.
Beckles recently returned to the Cayman Islands having played successfully at the University of Connecticut for four years.
The selection for the team was an intense process that focused on fitness levels, ball handling skills and game awareness. Coach Philip Fourie said that the recent trial games were probably the most intense that players have experienced in recent years. "Having played successfully in build-up games in the local LIME Sevens Tournament in October I think that the team is the best prepared yet," he said.
Ziegler added: “The team we will be travelling with have some good 15s experience under their belt which will help to ease nerves when they step on the pitch. The next critical level of experience for these players is in the Sevens field and we are confident that our training will lead to great improvements over last year’s performance”.
The Cayman Islands team will arrive in Mexico City on 13 November to prepare for the two day tournament.
Ziegler said that Caribbeean nations felt that 7s was a game that suited them.
"Women’s 7s rugby is definitely a strength of the Caribbean nations due to the natural speed of the players, as evidenced by Caribbean results in the World Track and Field Championship, and we are always looking to recruit new players and develop our existing players in order that we can be successful against our fellow nations. Sevens rugby has recently been added to the schedule for both the PanAm games (in 2011 – for both men and women) and the Olympic Games so there are beginning to be great opportunities in the sport.” .
The women’s competition at the Nacra Sevens will be a round robin format played over two days with each of the five teams playing each other twice.
Combined results over the 20 Matches (10 matches per day) will determine overall standings.
