New Academy Aiming to Establish Talent Pool

Bermuda Rugby Football Union has taken the first step on the pathway to establish a pool of talent for women’s rugby with the launch of a development academy.

The academy features a Bermuda Women’s Rugby Developing Players Programme for 2019-2020, the first of its kind for women’s rugby on island.

An initial draft of 16 recruits have been welcomed into the programme, a number that the academy’s leadership plans to grow in the coming months.

Those selected for the programme have been identified as aspiring athletes who have shown stand-out characteristics to develop further and potentially represent the Bermuda Women’s National Sevens Team in its domestic and international campaigns.

“Being a member of the Bermuda Women’s Academy Team is an honour, but it also requires a special commitment,” said Gillian Cross, current Women’s Sevens captain and a long-serving member of the Bermuda Women’s Rugby team.

“With the level of competition we face in the international arena as high as it is, success and fun on the rugby field does not come without some extra effort, more than just the effort it takes to show up on the day of the game.

“We are talking about the kind of effort that involves hard work, choices about the way in which one spends free time and making sacrifices.

“People very seldom are successful at anything unless they can have fun doing it and they believe that many good rugby experiences lay ahead for the squad.”

Following the launch of the academy and for the first time in the history of the BRFU, a domestic contact women’s tournament has been set up to give the growing numbers of contact players the ability to test their ability and decision-making skills in regular game play.

Launched last night, four contact games will be held weekly on Friday’s. The coaching team, which will led by Jamie Barnwell, whose vast experience includes two years as the head coach of England’s Senior Women’s Rugby Academy.

The aim is that the Developing Players Programme will play a critical role in Bermuda’s campaign at upcoming scheduled tournaments and internationals such as the Ariel Re Sevens in March and the Rugby Americas North Sevens in June.

For further information about the programme e-mail: bermudarugbywomensmanager@gmail.com

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