DART U19 sets sights on third championship

(CRC): On Monday, 1 July, twenty two young men in the DART U19 squad flew to Trinidad and Tobago with their coaches, Garry Southway & Noel Phillips. They are spending the week in training to defend their U19 regional championship, which they won in Mexico in 2012. Many of the players in the squad also represented the team in 2011, which was won in Cayman, following their peers who also won the championships in 2008 and 2009. 

In recognition of the amazing feat of four championships in five years, the North American & West Indies Rugby Association ("NACRA") permanently awarded the trophy to Cayman and will start a new trophy at the 2013 tournament.

The team faces Jamaica on 8 July and then Bermuda on 10 July. Final results will determine if they make the final on 13 July. Strong opposition is expected from all teams this year, as the region recognizes the importance of their U19 programs to feed their senior sides over the next few years.

Director of Rugby, Richard Grizz Adams, expects the team to do well again at this year’s tournament. "The guys have not been together much this year, as seven of them are attending school overseas, which makes practicing as a team very tough," Adams said. "However, many of the guys that are away are playing an extremely high level of Rugby and will bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience. The coaches have done a great job with those players in Cayman from the Maples youth academy, and they had some great results against the touring sides that have come to Cayman to play this year.

"It is the oldest team we have ever had in terms of age, with the vast majority of players either 18 or 19 years old, and only a couple still under 18, so that will definitely be of benefit in terms of physicality," Adams added. "Our guys here also play in the senior leagues and one or two are in the full national senior XV and VII’s squads, so they will not be intimidated by the opposition, which will also help. I think as long as they listen to their coaches, who are both very good, and stick with what they do well, they will definitely be in with a better-than-average chance of bringing home a 5th championship and the new Trophy. I will be there delivering a couple of conferences on ‘Building Small Unions’ and ‘How to Develop An Ideal Union in a Small Island Setting’ on behalf of NACRA and the International Rugby Board, which will give me a chance to see most of the practices and all of their games."

Adams is currently scouting on behalf of the new High Performance Sevens and Fifteens programs, now firmly established within Cayman, and expects to be able to identify at least ten potential players to make that step up immediately upon the U19 team's return to the Cayman Islands. With the NACRA Sevens being hosted in Cayman from 9-10 November, he feels that some will have a real chance of playing in that tournament as well.