Tobago Rugby Football Club seeking new home

THE TOBAGO Rugby Football Club is seeking help to get its own venue, where they can train without the interruptions of other sports, such as football and track and field.

Anderson Roberts, assistant coach of the club, said, “The club has been in existence for 21 years and has consistently produced players on the national team.”

He continued, “We have also contributed to sports tourism and the holistic development of young people and, after years of pleading with the powers that be, we are still homeless."

The club currently trains at the Calder Hall recreation field, but has to compete for space with other sporting disciplines such as football, athletics and aerobics.

Roberts said, “The situation puts us at a disadvantage because we are unable to train in a real-game scenario and we cannot erect any rugby post.

“During our tenure the club, which started at the Idle Wild recreation field, has changed grounds on five occasions due to the same problem.

“Our club hosted a Tobago Rugby Sevens tournament in 2010, which eventually attracted teams from countries such as America, Canada and England, and had grown into an annual sports tourism fixture.

“But we lost the franchise to Barbados in 2015, because we could not get a ground prepared in time for the tournament,” Roberts added.

The club resumed training in August, after the Government eased its covid19 restrictions, regarding permission for national sporting teams to train.

According to Roberts, new members are accommodated on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while sessions are conducted for the experienced players on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Roberts, who also serves as a scout for the national team, said, "Training is currently centred around Under-18 and senior male and female teams, to mirror the national programme. And the focus is preparations for national trials, ahead of the Rugby Americas North (RAN) tournament in Mexico, set for February 2022.”

Among the current players in training, Roberts mentioned Keifa Des Vignes of Moriah and Tinille Duncan of Hope, as players with the potential for possible selection on the national women’s team.

President of the club Nikita Burnett said the club's progress has been severely hampered by the covid19 pandemic and currently they are limited to national preparation.

“We have included a few new players in our training sessions, to give our regular players some opposition," said Burnette. "Due to covid19 health guidelines, our sessions are restricted to ten persons, under strict health measures.”

Burnette added, “Marie Pantin, one of the national coaches, is currently overseeing the progress of Tobago players for national trials and three female players will journey to Trinidad over the weekend, for training sessions (with) the national set-up."