Barbados
It’s an exciting time for rugby in Barbados.
Back on track after the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s safe to say that rugby on the island is now coming along in leaps and bounds. Leading the charge is Barbados Rugby Football Union (BRFU) President Donovan Bagwell, who has seen his vision finally come to fruition with the recent installation of brand-new floodlights and an irrigation system at the ‘home of rugby in Barbados’, the Garrison Savannah.
“My long-term dream had always been to install floodlighting and to improve the playing surface at the Garrison,” he says. “We have been lucky enough for our National Sports Council and the Barbados Olympic Association to provide us with funding so that the rugby fraternity can have our own dedicated facility with permanent lighting for night games and an upgraded pitch by means of new irrigation. This is a game changer for us. It’s been a big team effort by both the Executive Committee and the wider rugby community on the island and we can now boast that we impressively have one of the best rugby facilities in the Caribbean.”
Donovan’s Journey
Donovan was introduced to rugby when he was 11 years old in the United Kingdom, where he was born and raised.
“My best friend’s father was a rugby player and our local rugby club, Chard Rugby Football Club, had started a mini-rugby program so my friend and his father took me along to a session,” he says. “From that point on, I just fell in love with the game.”
Donovan continued to play for Chard Rugby Football Club throughout the age grades and played regular league rugby on Saturday afternoons.
“I also played for my school and for numerous teams around Somerset in England – that was a big part of my rugby upbringing,” he says. “I then went to university in Bristol and played rugby there before my first career posting which took me to South Wales. I played two seasons in Fourth Division national rugby in Wales for Bridgend Athletic and played semi-pro.”
However, Donovan says it was his professional career and not rugby that eventually brought him to the shores of Barbados in 2001.
“As soon as I arrived, I of course made contact with the BRFU and asked how I could get involved with rugby in Barbados,” he says. “I was introduced to the rugby fraternity and really enjoyed the rugby on the island – the culture was different, and the frequency of the games was less than back in the UK, but nevertheless it was competitive, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Donovan says he played rugby locally until 2008 which included being part of the team that became the Caribbean Champions beating Trinidad, Guyana, St. Lucia, Bahamas, and then went on to play the USA and Canada.
During this time, he also became Secretary of the BRFU.
“I was Secretary between 2004 and 2008 while I continued my playing career,” he says. “In 2008, I retired and gave up my seat as Secretary to take some time away from the game. However, I continued to follow what was happening with rugby both in the UK and Barbados.”
It was not until 2019, when Donovan took the opportunity to put himself forward for election for BRFU President, that he officially came back to the game he loves.
“Over the years, I had been asked by a number of the ex-players and administrators if I would consider running for President, so I finally did, and was elected,” he says. “I took on the position because I saw a need for the Union to be stabilized and to get some long-term planning in place to improve all aspects of rugby in Barbados. This of course included the installation of lighting and an irrigation system to raise the standard of our facilities and to get things moving in the right direction to really start to progress the sport on the island.”
Lights, Camera, Action!
Not long after his election as President, Donovan says the BRFU received the welcome news from the National Sports Council (NSC) that they had been included in a national floodlighting project for several sporting facilities in Barbados.
“It was around 2020/2021 that we were notified of our inclusion in the project,” he says. “We worked with the architects and engineers to discuss what our needs would be in terms of the types lighting and their functionality, and despite some delays, the works were finally completed earlier this year.”
Donovan says the lights are 45 feet high and are brand new LED technology lights which illuminate the entire pitch at the Garrison Savannah; a vast improvement on the temporary lighting systems the BRFU had used in recent years.
“Our new lighting even enabled us to host our very first floodlit international match (and the first international match we have played since about 2018) against St. Vincent and the Grenadines last month,” he says. “It was the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Men’s XVs and we overpowered our Caribbean neighbors 80-0, drawing in one of the biggest crowds we have ever seen for rugby at the Garrison.”
On the back of this successful milestone, Donovan says the BRFU now plans to host more night games and has already expanded the local training programs to include night training.
“The majority of our training has now been moved to the Garrison for evening sessions,” he says. “Moving forward, almost any match we have planned domestically and internationally will now also be played under lights at the Garrison. The lights are also going to tremendously increase the amount of exposure rugby will get in Barbados through the ability to now draw in bigger crowds at night and will hopefully attract more people to the sport.”
Improving Pitch Quality
In addition to receiving funding to set up the permanent lighting, Donovan says the BRFU were also able to secure partial funding from the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) for the design and installation of a fully automated irrigation system to improve the quality of the playing pitch at the Garrison.
“Over the years, the additional issue was raised to the Union about the poor quality of the pitch surface during the dry season. With the lack of rainfall and consistent sunshine, it has meant that the grass growth had been abated, and in some cases, the grass may have died,” he says. “Cracks would also open in the surface of the pitch and either render the pitch unplayable or just simply unsafe as the likelihood of injuries resulting from this type of uneven surface is very high. We obviously identified this as another priority for the Union and sought out a solution.”
Donovan says the newly installed irrigation system consists of 24 ‘pop up’ heads in four lines that are all tied to a water storage and pump system located in the BRFU Clubhouse.
“It’s a fully automated system. The water comes on during the evenings into our storage tanks and is then used to water the pitch in the early hours of the morning, just for 10 minutes daily. The point is to keep the pitch soft and to keep the grass growing,” he says. “It has made such a huge difference – we now have a playing surface that we can play on all year round and it is softer and safer than ever before.”
The Vision
Donovan says the ultimate vision behind the recent BRFU facilities upgrades is to attract more people locally to rugby in Barbados, as well as to increase the number of international touring teams coming into the island to play.
“If you want to attract players to the sport, you need to have good facilities, and having good facilities, we hope, will allow us to attract more of the local youth into the game,” he says. “We also now have a better foundation to be able to host regional and international games, as well as to bring over touring teams to play friendlies. This will ultimately provide our local players with essential experience against different teams and styles of play to be able to hone their skills so that we can continue to improve our game for years to come.”
And, with the new upgrades to the facilities complete, Donovan and the BRFU Executive Committee now have their sights set on hosting a regular sevens tournament in Barbados.
“Thanks to the upgrades, Barbados now has one of the best rugby facilities in the Caribbean, so I think it is only fitting that we start hosting a regular sevens tournament here,” he says. “This will benefit the entire RAN region. We now have a first-class facility that we have access to all year round and that can host night games, so it is my hope that we will become a somewhat ‘rugby hub’ for the Caribbean. We would love to host more teams, and we are working very hard to explore that possibility. The more intra-regional competition that we can facilitate, the better, and we are firmly committed to doing our part to raise the standard of rugby both locally and regionally to benefit the next generations of players to come.”
