38 teams from across New York City and the surrounding area made, what was for some a long trip to Columbia University’s Baker Field Sports Complex, to stake their claim to become the champions of the Second Annual Mayor's Cup Flag Rugby Festival.
Increasing the number of teams (+ 65 percent), sponsors (+ 300 percent), volunteers (+ 100 percent), matches (+65 percent) and referee's (+ 300 percent) from last year's event, this 2009 was set to be a fantastic day of fast, fun, flag rugby. From title sponsorship by HSBC Bank, N.A to the commitment of NYC's DOE staff and CHAMPS coaches, the whole tournament did not disappoint, blowing away even last year's great experience.
The day started when a small army of volunteers descended upon Baker Field not long after sun rise Saturday morning to prepare the nine fields that would see over 90 games of flag rugby that day, set up registration, food concession, information and rugby gear sales stands, put up tens of signs and turn the sports complex into a rugby haven.
Teams trickled in from around 08:30, registered and picked up their exclusive international replica rugby jerseys kindly designed, manufactured and donated by Canterbury of New Zealand. Each team represented one of 23 nations chosen by the last 20 teams in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, and to accommodate teacher/school's natural affiliations. There was soon a buzz of anticipation in the air as teams put on their new jerseys, began warming up and the official start time of 10 a.m. approached.
Just over 450 students assembled in the bleachers as President of Play Rugby, Inc, Mark Griffin made the official announcements and got the tournament underway, the format of which matched this year's 7-a-side World Cup format, from Dubai.
Two hours and 56 games later the pool stages of the tournament were complete and the teams would know whether they would be competing for the Mayor's "Cup", "Plate" or "Bowl" – depending on their performance in the early rounds. Taking their CHAMPS winter form into the tournament, PS279 proved they deserved to by number 1 seeds by topping the group stages and securing a path into the Cup competition, coincidentally they were representing the world number one ranked team New Zealand. The elementary teams also finished their pool play and joined the middle school teams on the main field for the knock out stages.
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