The AA Trophy, as it is fondly referred to, is the premier open-grade competition for Rugby Clubs in Cayman and the ultimate winner is crowned as the national champion each year. It is a trophy steeped in tradition and now days is hotly contested between the Cayman Clubs throughout the playing season. The following is an exerpt from a letter written by past captain and life member Duanne Bodden:
In my days as Captain, the Rugby Club endured a period of decline both on and off the field. There was a time when only 5 to 7 guys attended training sessions. After convincingly loosing ( 57 – 0 ) to the visiting London Metropolitan Police RFU in the early 90’s, I decided that the club needed a more stable source of competitive Rugby in order to prepare us for such visitors.
I was upset that football was enjoying regular newspaper coverage and seasons of enthusiastic players that on the field, illegally kicked, punched and bad-mouthed each other but was afraid to tackle someone with a ball and not get red carded for it. I had to scratch my head as to how I was going to ‘promote’ the game of Rugby and increase the playing membership which would in turn harden the players for those visitors from abroad coming out here on ‘Holiday’, beating us up and enjoying it! I thought of ‘positive’ community events and how the club could be associated with those in the context of bringing back exposure to the game of Rugby, giving the guys something to play for instead of ‘Reds’ & ‘Greens’.
When I first started to play Rugby, Alex, was a player that I admired on the field and in his last days I was both saddened and happy to see him on the sidelines. After his passing and during my fight to expose Rugby to Cayman, the light bulb came on. Create a Tournament that gave the competitors something to play for, a real trophy, do some good in the community and at the same time bring press coverage to the game, exposing it to the rest of the Island. I approached John Law with the idea and he confirmed the CNB sponsorship for a trophy. I suggested that the players paid to play in these matches and that the money collected from the players be tallied up at the end of the series and donated to the Cancer Society in memory of the well known and loved Alex Alexander of the Cayman RFU.
It was then born: ‘The Alex Alexander Memorial Trophy’. Myself being local, I wanted something indigenous to Cayman, therefore I chose the Blue ‘Iguanas’ to be the ‘local’ side which over the years, with a mixture of local ‘footballers’, and those with the closest connections to Cayman, fought numerous 15 a-side and very memorable 7-a-side tournaments. The rest of the world at that time was inundated by Police rugby players, hence the ‘Pigs’ and those that (on the field) disliked both the Iguanas and the Pigs, taking their likeness to the Pirate Buccaneers of the Caribbean, the ‘Buccs’.
The rest is history, over the years format and players have changed out of necessity. However, today, the Tournament is at its best with the inclusion of the Academy which has come to being by the great work that a determined and dedicated friend, Grizz [Richard Adams], has envisioned for Cayman.
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