RAISING the bar for rugby teams at a grassroots level also means having them feature in more competitions with elite opponents, says McDonald Coral Coast Fiji 7s founding chairman Jay Whyte.
And this will ring true for these teams as the major tournament looms closer, when it kicks off next month at Lawaqa Park in Sigatoka.
Whyte explained how the onus on ensuring these teams had a chance to be exposed to high-level competition was of the essence.
“Well, the reality for any competition is that to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best,” Whyte said.
“And if you’re a grassroots team, a vanua-based team, to be the best you can be, you need to be playing the very best competition possible and that’s where having these elite national squads really helps the grassroots teams raise the bar.”
“They can gauge where they are at and that’s what we’re trying to do, it’s all about improving the overall playing stock for Fiji for national selection.”
In helping to raise the bar, he adds the elevation of referees to a higher standards is another way to drive that ambition forward.
“That also rolls into referees getting to referee at a higher standard obviously under more pressure, making those quick decisions and that’s the only way anyone ever gets better; it’s through testing themselves,” he emphasised.
“That’s why we are doing what we’re doing with the tournament.”
Meanwhile, the one-day Super 7s Qualifier, which took place at Lawaqa Park in Sigatoka on Saturday, saw seven grassroots teams from it progress to the main Coral Coast 7s tournament.
