Rugby in Mexico on the rise

19 JULY 2007

By Karen Bond irb.com

Rugby in Mexico is enjoying a renaissance, the sport being discovered by a new generation of players after nearly dying out in an economic crisis more than a decade ago and that growth is now being fuelled by its inclusion in the Pan American Games programme.

The Mexican city of Guadalajara will host the Pan American Games in 2011 with Sevens as a participation sport, following an announcement by the Pan American Sports Organisation last week, and the impact on the country is already evident.

However the impact of this introduction will not only be confined within Mexico’s borders, but throughout the Americas region according to Miguel Carner, President of the Federacion Mexicana de Rugby.

“The impact of this is going to be huge on the region,” Carner told Total Rugby Radio. “Let me talk about Mexico first, the Mexican kids that have been playing rugby are totally mad and crazy about the idea to train themselves to play in the Pan American Games in four years.

“This will spread and give a lot of strength to our junior programme in Mexico, but the results and the effects are going to go beyond our borders. For example, if you look at a country like the US, to be in the Pan Am Games makes the sport to be recognised by a lot of Universities.

Fuelling rugby's growth

“This is going to have a huge impact because it might lead to having scholarships for rugby players in major Universities and this is going to be very, very good to promote rugby with first degree athletes in the US. The US is the attraction pull for all the region, so this is going to be very, very important.

“The sport has been existing in Mexico for 30 years, but the economic crisis we had like 10 or 15 years ago had a huge impact on sport in general and in rugby in particular. Rugby was on the brink of disappearing around the 90s.

“We have been witnessing a big comeback of rugby and now it is played in Mexico City, in Guadalajara, where the Pan Am Games are going to be held in 2011. It is played in Monterrey, the third largest city, in Guanajuato, in Celaya, in Puebla.

“So rugby is spreading rapidly and the Pan Am Games are going to have a huge impact on rugby spreading even faster.”

However it isn’t only the sport in general that is capturing the imaginations of the Mexican people, but Sevens in particular with several regional tournaments held in the country, such is its popularity.

Well-planned campaign

“Seven a side is a very good introduction to rugby in general, not only sevens but fifteens also. It is easier to get introduced to the game with sevens and let’s not forget this result [Pan American Games] is no coincidence.

“It is the result of a very well-planned campaign by the IRB Council, by [IRB Chairman] Dr Syd Millar and by [IRB CEO/General Secretary] Mike Miller to get rugby into the Olympic Games.

“In such a manner we were invited a couple of years ago to attend the Los Angeles IRB Sevens tournament and it had a huge impact on Mexican rugby and a lot of kids are preparing themselves for sevens nowadays.

“We have organised each year five or six regional tournaments for sevens in Mexico and now people is getting to know the game better and I think we can get a good side for Guadalajara [in 2011].”

The Pan American Games will certainly not be an easy competition for Mexico with the likes of IRB Sevens World Series regulars Argentina and Canada, not to mention the USA, Chile and Uruguay all set to battle for honours.

Building for the future

However Carner is determined that Mexico will leave no stone unturned in their preparations over the next four years, boosted by their Under 19 team’s involvement in the recent NAWIRA tournament when they beat eventual champions Jamaica 3-0.

“Well we have a very tough competition as you know, the Pan Am Games gathers all the American countries, so, of course, in first place Argentina will be there, then you have Canada, then you have the US, then you have Uruguay, you have Chile.

“Nowadays any of those countries would beat Mexico in a seven a side competition, but we have four years to prepare ourselves and we are going to use them at the maximum speed to try to get the best team we can out there.

“We just came back two days ago from an U19 tournament in the Cayman Islands and of course that generation of players is going to be the basis for the team that will participate in Guadalajara.

“So we are going to have a very strong competition in the Pan Am Games, but we have time to prepare our kids to give them the proper athletic training they need and we hope to have a very respectable role in those Games.”