The Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA) will host a two-day Grenada Rugby World 7s (GRW7) tournament at the 16,000-seat Grenada National Cricket Stadium in St. George’s on December 2nd and 3rd.
The event will feature the best international men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams competing over two days of matches during a week of activities, organizers say.
advertisement
The 30-year-old tournament will be held in Grenada for the first time after a two-year suspension due to the global pandemic, Brian Stollmeyer, general manager, said in a statement.
Rugby 7s is an alternative version of rugby where seven-man teams play seven-minute halves, compared to traditional 15-man rugby teams who play 40-minute halves.
“We are deliberately building sports tourism as one of our growth planks, so hosting this very prestigious tournament is a huge win for Grenada,” said Petra Roach, CEO of the Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA).
“This new sport on our island speaks to this idea of constant change,” added Lennox Andrews, Grenada’s minister with responsibility for tourism. Andrews replaced Dr. Clarice Modeste-Curwen as the country’s tourism minister following the June election of Dickon Mitchell as prime minister.
The event also “demonstrates the importance of tourism to our economy,” Andrews said, “given its contribution to hotels and restaurants. [and] its strong links with agriculture, music, the creative industries and of course sports.”
It originated in Trinidad in the 1980s before moving to Tobago in 2011 and Barbados in 2016. The tournament is historically among the sport’s most popular international events, particularly for its women’s divisions, Stollmeyer said, and “take precedence over the of men” in terms of the prestige and prizes of the tournament.
“In addition to world-class rugby matches, 2022 GRW7 [aim] to showcase a sampling of Grenadian culture, including local music, arts and craft stalls [and] culinary delights,” he added.
“We see this as a perfect opportunity for the general public to learn more about the sport and come and see for themselves the all-encompassing spirit of rugby.”
