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WSM Charity Rugby 7s 2014

2014 marked a change in scenery for the charity tournament, moving closer to home in south west London and grounding its foundations at Wimbledon RFC.

This year, the Charity was supporting local Wimbledon Charity STEM4, which raises awareness for, and supports mental illness in teenagers.

The week before the tournament was due to kick off, nervous eyes frequently scanned weather reports for any indication that our little parade was going to be washed away. Call it luck, call it fate, call it the promise made by Wimbledon RFC that they had the weather under control; with a height of 24 degrees shining down over the Wimbledon pitches, luck was truly on our side.

The tournament kicked off at 10am, and it was great to see some familiar faces from the likes of Caterham Rangers, Kingston RFC, the Palmers and of course the host team, the WSM Wolverines. With 16 mens teams taking part, it was great to welcome new teams to the tournament, from a variety of regions. RAE sevens travelled up from Farnborough, Chineham Lions from Basingstoke and a Japanese team who travelled all the way from… London (London Japanese).

After the pool stages were completed, it was clear that the tournament would be one wrought with surprise. Caterham Rangers, winners of the 2013 cup, had found themselves in the plate competition, along with the Palmers, who faced off against the Caterham Rangers in the 2013 cup final. Perhaps more surprising still, host team WSM Wolverines had managed to win their first (and only) game of sevens, only to be promptly knocked out of the plate competition by a rival accountancy team from Crowe Clark and Whitehill.

The standard of rugby was top-notch from start till finish, but by the end of the day, the winners had emerged victorious. The Palmers fell short of Ruts Warriors efforts in the plate final, and King Prawns managed a convincing win against Thundercats Rugby in the cup final.

The fun however was not over there, and despite Wimbledon RFCs best efforts to keep everybody suitably fed throughout the day with their all day BBQ, they soon opened the club doors to the arrival of cover band Run for Cover, whose musical prowess entertained the teams that stayed on to socialise into the late evening.

The day has already managed to raise £2,600 for STEM4, with donations still arriving. If you would still like to contribute, please click here to be redirected to our donations page. Photos from the day can be found here.

We would like to thank Phillip and Mick from Wimbledon RFC for all their help in organising the event, Stephen and Paddy for their expert medical cover, the referees, Brian and his minibus, Martin at Supreme Engraving for the wonderfully engraved silverware, everybody who came down on the day to support the event, and last but by no means least, all of the teams that entered (and we hope enjoyed themselves), the tournament would not run without you.

 

 

Celebrating Victory – King Prawns

 

 

Plate Winners – Ruts Warriors

  

Event Organisers – Kayley, Paul and Ben

 

Live music – Run for Cover

 

Marketing Team – Jess, Kayley and Emilie

 

Amanda Menassa

Amanda graduated from Brunel University, with a joint honours degree, achieving a BSC and BA degree in Leisure Management and Television and film studies. Amanda started her career in a customer service role before joining the hotel group Le Meridien as an Events coordinator, she was in the hotel industry for seven years and during her time won an award from a major international airline for her outstanding attitude and dedication to customer service, which she achieved while working for the Rezidor hotel group in the position of Airline Crew Manager. Amanda has over 20 years experience in customer relations and event management.

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