The Burnaby Lake Lighthouse Sevens is scheduled for July 7th, 2012 at Burnaby Lake Sports Complex (3760 Sperling Ave, Burnaby, BC, V5B 4X5)
BURNABY - One of the Teams taking part in the 3rd Annual BLRC Lighthouse 7’s Tournament this weekend is the South Seas Connection from Vancouver Island. As the name says, these players have very strong ties to the rugby playing Islands of the South Pacific.
Club Manager, Muavae Va’a hails from the Village of Lotopue, Manu Samoa and drifted over to our shores in 1991. Team Coach Noa Molia is from the island of Rotuma, North of the Fiji Islands.
And the players are from Fiji, Manu Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands and Australia.
The Club has been in existence for three years now and they got together just to play seven’s for fun, but it was also during this time that 7’s became sanctioned and endorsed by BC Rugby, which saw the creation and re-creation of a few sevens programs, including the tournament host, Burnaby Lake Lighthouse program.
South Seas Connection Players play for the various Clubs on the Island, including Castaway Wanderers, James Bay, Velox and some of the boys came through the U17 and U20 program. They have been coming to the Lighthouse 7’s since 2010 and have been to all the finals, an indication of how strong this team is. Defending champions, Burnaby Lake will have their work cut out for them this weekend if they are to defend their title successfully.
Tournament manager, Roko Kapaiwai says, “You are guaranteed a tough physical game and very strong 7’s game when you play these guys and you will need to bring your best to the field when you’re facing them. It is also very, very entertaining when you’re watching from the sideline”.
South Seas Connection is pooled with Youngbucks, Meraloma Rugby Club and OPSB (Old Puget Sound Beach) 1 from Seattle. It should be very interesting watching the games from this Pool. Their first game is at 10.25am on Field Two, against OPSB1.
Come on down to BURNABY LAKE SPORTS FIELDS on Saturday and witness some of the very best sevens to be played this side of the continent!
