Abbotsford International 7's

ABBOTSFORD'S 2009 SEVENS TEAM

History

The Abbotsford International Sevens tournament was started in the summer of 2009. The idea started with Abbotsford resident and Kenyan born Douglas Okero. Douglas has ties to rugby in Kenya and hoped for many years to find a way to share our West Coast hospitality with his Kenyan brethren. Douglas teamed up with Donna Bernard of Flair marketing and Summer Dhillon of tourism Abbotsford, and many months of planning began.

This group of dedicated professionals sought the assistance of the Abbotsford Rugby Club and approached our executive about coming on board to help advise on the rugby logistics. It was rare to have an outside group interested in planning a major rugby event and the rugby club was excited to be involved with a local international tournament that had the potential to expand the sport locally. Doug Primrose and Ryan McWhinney stepped into advisory roles on behalf of the rugby club, and the event started to come to fruition, eventually becoming a reality on July 25, 2009.

The Inaugural Abbotsford International Sevens Tournament 2009

The first Abbotsford International Sevens Tournament on July 25, 2009 was a great success. With close to 2000 people in attendance and 16 teams from four countries playing, it was a great day of rugby in Abbotsford and an exciting day for rugby in the Pacific Northwest. The organizers are keen to make it an annual event with even more international teams next year.

The day wrapped up with Kenya edging out Canada by two points to take the Elite title and the $5000 prize. Canada Alumni beat Lionheart Se7en 19-12 in the Domestic Final to win the $1000 prize. Tournament MVP's were Collins Injera of Kenya in the Elite Division with his exciting play and 6 tournament tries and Dan Harlow of Canada Alumni in the Domestic Division who scored an amazing 12 tries in 5 games.

Thank you to all those who attended and supported the event! Please read on for all scores and more details about the tournament. Click here for Abbotsford Pictures from the tournament.

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

DOMESTIC DIVISION

Canada Alumni 56 Pacific Islanders 0
Brits 24 Scribes 5
Lionheart 47 Del Rey 7
Surrey 32 Wizards 0

Brits 33 Pacific Islanders 0
Canada Alumni 47 Scribes 7
Del Rey 22 Wizards 7
Lionheart 39 Surrey 7

Scribes 17 Pacific Islanders 0
Canada Alumni 35 Brits 14
Surrey 26 Del Rey 24
Lionheart 36 Wizards 12

Semi Final - Canada Alumni 58 Surrey 0
Semi Final - Lionheart 39 Brits 19

Final - Canada Alumni 19 Lionheart 12

Domestic Division MVP ($500) - Dan Harlow of Canada Alumni

ELITE DIVISION

West Indies 24 Young Bucks 15
OPS 14 Burnaby 12
Canada Selects 43 Abbotsford 0
Kenya 19 Bayside 7

OPS 14 Young Bucks 12
West Indies 17 Burnaby 14
Kenya 33 Abbotsford 0
Canada 41 Bayside 0

Burnaby 36 Young Bucks 7
OPS 26 West Indies 22
Bayside 33 Abbotsford 19
Canada 21 Kenya 19

Semi Final - Kenya 19 OPS 0
Semi Final - Canada 14 West Indies 12

Final - Kenya 12 Canada 10

Elite Division MVP ($1000) - Collins Injera of Kenya 

Abbotsford's own Bryn Keys playing for Canada.

Canada players and capped players Joe Haley, Jon Thiel, Nick Milau, and Shane Thompson (from left)

The Abbotsford Rugby Club and the tournament organizing committee want to pass on a huge thank you to all teams for attending the inaugural event. We want to thank Douglas Okero, Donna Bernard and Summer Dhillon who were the organizers that made the event happen. Thanks to Doug Primrose and other Abbotsford Rugby Club members who were behind the rugby organization of the event. We want to thank Dave Pue for organizing the referees, and Bruce Kuklinski and the panel of referees who were fantastic on the day.

Thank you to the international teams who came a long way to add to the competitiveness of the tournament and demonstrate their rugby skills. It was evident that the level of talent among the various teams was outstanding, particularly between the top teams who played some extremely entertaining matches. We appreciate the standard of play set in the first year of the tournament and again thank teams for their efforts on the day.

We also want to thank Surrey for getting a team together with less than a week's notice after a late withdrawal, and thanks to the Young Bucks and Abbotsford for agreeing to move up into the elite division against their original desires when the withdrawal required some team shuffling.

With close to 2000 people in attendance and 16 teams from four countries playing, it was a great day of rugby in Abbotsford and an exciting day for rugby in BC and Canada. The organizers are keen to make it an annual event with more international teams next year.

Thanks again to everyone for a great day!