The third annual Burnaby Lake Lighthouse 7's rugby tournament kicks off at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex-East on Saturday, July 7.
This competition is shaping up to be one of the toughest ones to date, with new teams joining those that have been trying to dethrone the current champs and hosts Burnaby Lake Lighthouse in both elite men's and women's divisions. Teams in the elite men's division include newcomers Old Puget Sound, which is bringing two elite sides, including former Fiji 7's rep Waisele Serevi.
The Youngbucks is another first-time team and are bringing along a social team as well to try and pry the trophy away from the social champions Velox, who are entered this year as the Untouchables. Completing the nine-team roster, in the elite men's division are defending champion Burnaby Lake, Vancouver finalist Abbotsford, Meralomas, Kolofo'ou, South Seas Connection and another newcomer to the tournament, Bayside Sharks.
In the elite women's division, two U.S. teams will try and take the Lighthouse down I-5 to Seattle for a year. The Mudhens, which won the first leg of the series at the Vancouver 7's, will try and make it two in a row. Coach Phil Killham quipped after winning the Vancouver 7's, "We would really love to have beaten Burnaby Lake Lighthouse women, but I guess we will wait and try again at their field." The Mudhens only loss in Vancouver was to the Burnaby Lake women, so they will be coming with at least one goal in mind. Seattle will also be joining us for the first time and they too will want to take the Lighthouse prize back home. Standing in the way of course is tournament host and champion, Burnaby Lake, who are thinking of entering two teams with the goal of developing new players who will be the future of sevens at the lake. Rounding up the women's division are the Meralomas and Abbotsford, both of whom are fielding really strong teams this year.
Tournament organizers are also running an under-14 sevens tournament alongside the seniors, as part of the club's commitment to developing the game.
BLRC Lighthouse 7's Program Manager, Roko Kapaiwai is hoping to get three more elite men's teams and two more women's teams to complete the pools. Deadline for entries is Friday evening.
If you'd like to enter a team to the third annual BLRC Lighthouse 7's tournament, please send an email to Roko at [email protected]
Entry Fees are:
Elite men: $250
Elite women: $250
Social men: $100
