As Cayman rugby gears up for a busy period of international clashes, part of the focus rests on Dave Clancy.
The strength and conditioning coach for the Cayman Rugby Football Union has been getting male and female players ready for international tournaments starting in April. Clancy, who hails from Ireland, said the structure in place here compares favorably to bigger nations.
“I’ve been here about nine months, since last June,” Clancy said. “Time is flying and I’ve settled in well. I’m in charge of fitness and my day-to-day activities include monitoring players at the gym and their scores for fitness, speed and fatigue levels. We will be commencing block three of our training plan shortly, which will involve full team training on two nights a week at the South Sound pitch. There have been encouraging improvements across the board with the players starting to approach the international tier one nation standards that I have set them. The players will be retested in April.”
He added, “I do every level, down to the 10-year-olds. By the time they [the younger ones] get to the national level, Cayman is way ahead of other countries. The likes of Ireland and Samoa can’t work with their youth players until 17/18 due to their population size. Their talent identification is so late.
“With my help, Cayman should be a force to be reckoned with on the Sevens scene. They’ve already went to Colorado and Las Vegas, playing top teams. There has even been kids excelling on a large stage, like William Hayward who went to play for England. Long-term, locals can learn from the expatriates here and Cayman can be a top team because some of these young guys have 10 more years to get better.”
The major competitions for Cayman include the North America Caribbean Rugby Association Caribbean Championships and a Bahamas test series. Game one of the Caribbean Championships is slated to be away to Bermuda on June 7 and game two is scheduled to be at home against USA South on June 14. Before that, local lads head to Freeport to play the Bahamians on May 3.
On the ladies side, the national Sevens program is targeting the first annual Texas women’s Sevens tournament on April 26. The competition, taking place in Allen, Texas, features teams like the Dallas Lady Quins, the Little Rock Stormers, the Allen Griffins and the Turks and Caicos national team.
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