Serevi Rugby Coaches To Return To Bermuda
On September 19th-22nd, the Bermuda Rugby Football Union, XL Group and Serevi Rugby, will continue their campaign to “build a pipeline” of rugby players from beginner to Olympian across Bermuda. The internationally recognized coaching staff of Serevi Rugby will return to the island for the second time this year to conduct a series of local school visits aimed at introducing boys and girls to the game, hold training camps for youth [ages 12-19], and continue the high end development of the Bermuda National Rugby Teams. This is the second part of a three-year, multi-tiered rugby development program sponsored by XL and led by Serevi Rugby and Bermuda RFU.
“Serevi’s first visit in June was such a success for everyone involved that we’re looking forward to this month’s visit and exposing more of the island’s youth to the benefits rugby can bring to their lives,” said Mark Berry, Senior Vice President and Managing Director at XL Group who is also a Bermudian former rugby player and a committee member of the UK-based children’s charity of rugby The Wooden Spoon. “We look forward to building on the excitement created by Serevi’s previous visit to not only get more children across the island interested in the game, but to build the core rugby skills of our high end players to compete with the best in the world.”
Led by IRB Hall of Fame Inductee Waisale Serevi, Irish legend and IRB Educator Justin Fitzpatrick, National Championship Winning Coach Evan Haigh, and former Fijian national team player William Rasileka, Serevi Rugby will work directly with young players during the camps and continue their training of the Bermuda National Teams [U19s, Men’s and Women’s Sevens]. In August of this year, Serevi coaches provided support for the Bermudian Men’s Sevens team during the Serevi RugbyTown Sevens Tournament in Glendale, Colorado where the team matched up against some of the best Sevens teams in North America.
“Between the time we were here training in June and the tournament in Colorado we saw the level of fitness, intensity and knowledge of the game increase for Team Bermuda,” said Waisale Serevi. “It is a process to have the players realize what it takes to compete at the highest level, and these players from Bermuda now understand that and are working hard to make improvements ahead of their upcoming international play. I’m very proud of how hard they are working and thankful for the support of XL and Bermuda RFU in making it all happen.”
Serevi Rugby will visit Warwick Academy and CedarBridge Academy, while all on-field programming will take place at the Police Fields. The schedule for the week visit includes:
- XL Group, Serevi Local School Visits: Friday, September 20th
- XL Group, Serevi Youth Clinic [ages 12-19]: Friday, September 20th
- XL Group, Serevi National Team Camps: Thursday, September 19th – Sunday, September 22nd
Youth players interested in participating should email Bermuda RFU’s Patrick Calow at pcalow@brfu.bm to register. More information, videos and pictures are available here.
The Bermuda program is part of Serevi Rugby’s “Rugby Kings” international programming, featuring international rugby legends Serevi, English legend Ben Gollings and Argentine great Santiago Gomez Cora, which creates a level of coaching skill and experience unmatched in rugby programming. Through Rugby Kings, Serevi Rugby takes teams of coaches to dense or emerging rugby markets around the world including Hong Kong, Bermuda, Africa, and the Pacific Islands in 2013. Each program is tailored to the needs of the host nation, working with youth coaches and athletes through the rugby development pipeline, often including National Team athletes.
