As the club goes into their final preparations for this weeks much anticipated Capital Challenge, the Community Department are also putting the finishing touches to the PCUBED Capital Challenge Schools TAG Tournament which precedes the event.
This year the event looks stronger than ever before, with a number of teams all in the hunt to win the coveted title. Schools are selected from across North London, principally from Haringey and Enfield, the two boroughs which our Community Department coaches are most active in. Our wonderful Community partners Ipreo, PCUBED & the central Sky Try funding from the London Foundation and RFL has enabled us to deliver again into an increased number of Primary Schools this year and TAG Rugby in North London is slowly becoming the favourite sport of many children.
Here we preview the schools who will take part in the tournament.
Muswell Hill Primary School (Haringey)
For new-comers Muswell Hill this will be their first visit to the HAC. They however come with a great pedigree, being the beaten finalists in this years Haringey TAG Rugby Championships. They will undoubtedly relish performing at such a venue and it will be interesting to see how they cope across the day.
Rhodes Avenue (Haringey)
Tournament stalwarts Rhodes Avenue will return to the HAC as Haringey Tag Champions, they will be keen to add the PCUBED title to this accolade. A school renowned for its sporting prowess they were nominated as Sporting School of the Year at the recent Haringey Celebrating Sport Awards and will be sure to mount a serious challenge to win the tournament title this year.
Keble Prep (Haringey)
The only all-boy school involved in the competition. Keble Preparatory School have a strong rugby tradition, with many of their young pupils going on to continue their rugby at high level secondary schools. They will be looking to use the tournament as another development stage for their talented pupils.
St Marys (Haringey)
St Mary’s are invited for their first visit to the HAC after their outstanding performance at the recent Haringey TAG Rugby Finals, where they impressed the Skolars Coaches with their skill and pace. They have benefitted from Community Delivery from Skolars Community Coaches and they will bring a natural rugby ability to the tournament and are certainly one to watch.
St Michaels N6 (Haringey)
St Michaels school along with their PE Co-ordinator Michael Whiting are one of the best and keenest TAG Rugby schools in the borough. Skolars run curriculum time sessions and after-school clubs at St Michaels and the joint winners from previous years will be hopeful of mounting another challenge for the title.
Crowland (Haringey)
Crowland Primary return under the leadership of Stelios Ekkeshis, who has previous experience of the tournament with Coldfall Primary. A solid performance at the Haringey Tag Rugby Finals will have given them confidence and they may be the surprise package of the tournament.