Ahead of the 2024 Touch World Cup, Cayman’s national mixed open touch rugby squad just missed out on a first-place finish at a recent tournament in the US.
The Cayman Islands Touch Association entered two teams (mixed open and development) in the US National Touch Rugby Championships, held in Oklahoma City, 11-14 Oct., where they qualified for the finals but came up short.
Despite the high level of competition, the Cayman mixed open team proved they can not only hang with the elite of the US, but they can also beat them.
Before reaching the final where they narrowly lost 7-5 to five-time champions, Galaxy Washington DC, the Cayman players picked up notable results against Austin (5-4), Canada East (12-2), Portland (9-2), New Orleans (10-1) and Fort Lauderdale (10-4).
In their semifinal, Cayman continued their strong performance, winning 7-3 over Canada West.
Cayman team captain Marcus Rowe said that he was proud of his teammates for how they played at the US nationals.
“Both teams showcased incredible spirit and the atmosphere was amazing,” Rowe said in a press release. “Although we didn’t get the win, the experience gained is priceless as we set our sights on next year’s Touch World Cup. The Cayman Islands team should really hold their heads high; they did us proud on the international scene.”
Cayman is scheduled to participate in the mixed open and mixed 30s divisions of the Touch World Cup, set for July next year in Nottingham, UK, and expected to attract more than 100 teams from 30 countries.
This will mark the first time in history that the Cayman Islands will compete at that tournament.
“To be able to compete on the global stage against other nations, especially at… Touch World Cup is very exciting and will do a lot to further raise the profile of the sport and drive the game forward in Cayman,” head coach Scott McCarty said in the release.
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