Ritzbury Super 16 Junior Rugby Carnival, a grand success
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The 12th edition of the Ritzbury Super 16 Junior Rugby Carnival successfully concluded recently at the Royal College Sports Complex. The carnival was conducted by over four rounds. The 12th carnival was held after a lapse of two years due to the pandemic that affected all sporting events in the country during the last two years.
The Super 16 Junior Rugby Carnival conducted for the Under-10 and Under-12 age groups witnessed total 112 teams from 34 leading and lesser known rugby playing schools and rugby academies taking part. The crowd in excess of 1500, including players, in each round was a testimony as to the acceptance of the Super 16 Junior Rugby Carnival as a much looked forward to event in the annual schools rugby calendar.
First held in 2009 with participation of six schools and 12 teams in each age group, has evolved over the years with teams from even from Galle, Anuradhapura and Padukka participating. Carnival has been organised since the inception by old boys’ rugby enthusiast with the main objective of creating opportunities for junior players to develop skills at a very early age while having fun and appreciate the game in a competitive environment.
This has been the most successful junior rugby carnival conducted in the country for the past 12 years when these children both boys and girls had very limited opportunities to play games. This carnival has created opportunities for the lessor known small schools to play with giants of school rugby and helped to spread the game far and wide as can be seen from the demand for the sport.
The Super 16 Junior Rugby Carnival is sanctioned by the Ministry of Education,
Sri Lanka Rugby, Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association and the Sri Lanka Rugby Referees Association. The title sponsor for this year’s carnival Ritzbury has supported the carnival for the second consecutive year along with other sponsors Norfolk, ASL Logistics, Alerics Ice Cream, Dairy House, American Premium and Baraka.
