Formed 2004 ... Herts 7s U14 Runners-up 2005 ... North Herts U14 team, Herts Youth Games 2005 runners-up (coached by Letchworth)... Herts Superteams U14 Runners-up 2005 ... Herts SuperTeams "Fairplay" winners 2006 ... Rochford 10s U17 Champions 2006 ... East Midlands 10s U17 Runners-up 2007 ... East Midlands 10s U17 "Fairplay" winners 2007 ... National 10s U17 5th place and "Fairplay" winners 2007 ... Herts 7s U17 Plate runners-up 2007 ... National 7s U17 Plate winners 2007 ... RFU "President's XV" Award winners 2007 ... Herts Superteams winners 2007 ... Midlands 10s U18 Runners-up 2008 ... National 10s U18 4th place 2008 ... North Herts U11 team, Herts Youth Games 2008 runners-up (coached by Letchworth girls) ... London and SE 7s U18 Plate runners-up 2008 ... Herts 7s U18s runners-up 2008 ... National 7s U18s quarter-finalists 2008 ... Gloucester City 10s U18 Bowl runner-up (6th) 2009 ... Worthing 10s U18 Plate runner-up 2009 ... National 7s U18 Plate winners 2009... Worthing 10s U15 Plate winners 2010... Worthing 10s U18 Shield winners 2010... Herts 7s U15 and U18 Bowl runners-up 2010... National 7s U18 Plate runners-up 2010...

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Olympics: Rugby makes the cut

Rugby Sevens is one step away from the Olympics. The IOC Executive announced this afternoon that it and golf will be recommended for inclusion in the 2016 Olympic Programme - the final decision being made by the the full IOC in Copenhagen in October.

Rugby, in fact, stormed to selection on the second round of voting - in fact it almost won on the first ballot. Each sport needed a majority of committee members, and rugby picked up 7 of the 14 votes first time around (karate got 3, baseball 2, and golf and softball 1 each. Roller sports and squash got nothing). Golf eventually came through as well, but another five rounds of voting were needed to separate it from karate (golf seemed to be almost everyone's second choice). You can see the results of all the votes here.

There is no guarantee that rugby will get through in Copenhagen, but with such strong support behind it the chances look very good indeed. Golf may find things a bit harder.

Details of the proposed format of the Olympic Sevens have also been released, and its rather different to the Sevens World Cup - fewer teams for starters.
  • It will last between two and four days.
  • 12 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams would be split into two pools of six.
  • The two top teams in each pool would qualify for semi-finals.
At the World Cup there were 16 women's teams (and even more men's) so this format would require more (or tougher) qualification tournaments. However its also worth remembering that there would be one Great Britain team (assuming they qualify!) - not separate England, Scotland and Wales teams (as in all sports Northern Irish players could play for GB or Ireland).

And in related news, women's boxing looks like being part of the 2012 Olympics.

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