The Saint Lucia Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) has confirmed a 32-member contingent for the 2026 Rugby Americas North (RAN) Regional Qualifiers, carded for November 28-29 at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. Saint Lucia will compete in the men’s and women’s tournaments.
The RAN Sevens mark the culmination of a busy period for the national progamme, including regional fixtures in St Vincent & the Grenadines, Martinique, and Guadeloupe. Both squads enter this month’s series with clear competitive briefs.
For the women, the 2026 edition represents their most realistic opening at this level in seven years. With reigning champions Mexico and continental heavyweights Canada both in Dubai contesting HSBC SVNS, the women’s bracket in Port of Spain features a six-team round-robin: Barbados, Bermuda, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and hosts Trinidad &Tobago.
At stake is the sole available qualifying berth for the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. Saint Lucia’s women have a history of podium finishes at RAN Sevens competitions. The national programme earned silver behind Guyana at the 2009 NACRA Championships in Mexico City and secured bronze in George Town, Cayman Islands in 2019.
The 13-player squad is led by veteran regional campaigners Renetta Reynolds, Mary Roberts, Shantel George, and multi-sport athlete Makeba Alcide. Youth Academy back Annela Phillips steps up to the senior tournament roster after logging domestic minutes with Trinidad’s Royalians club in October. The women’s side will be directed by head coach Wedrel St Clair, alongside manager Janelle Cools and physiotherapist Zhenya Allain.
The senior men face a mission of promotion. Drawn in Men’s Tier 2 alongside The Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, and the Turks & Caicos Islands, Saint Lucia must clear the bracket to regain elevation into Tier 1.
The men finished fourth in Tier 2 at last year’s qualifiers at Larry Gomes Stadium in Malabar, defeating TCI (12-0) and SVG (31-12) before falling to eventual tournament winners Curaçao (19-0) and dropping the third-place playoff to The Bahamas (26-17).
To reverse those results, head coach Chantel John has named a squad combining overseas ballast with domestic development players. Canada-based forwards Melvin Alexis and Claudius Medouze return to anchor the contact zone, joined by local academy products Malyle Chery, Yantez Jn Baptiste, Jesey Francois, and Benerrero Wellington.
SLRFU Technical Director Wayne Pantor stated that recent regional match minutes were vital in determining the selection:
“The teams have been putting in the final touches to ensure that they are competitively capable of reaching the podium. We have been working on applying the lessons learned throughout our developmental programme and recent international engagements.
“The players must remain disciplined, focused, and oriented towards our system of play. It is important that they trust the process, execute their roles, and believe in what we are building as a national programme.”
With corporate backing and technical support from the Saint Lucia Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports, the focus turns to tactical discipline on the pitch. Under the union’s banner of Rugby in Paradise: Developing Rugby, Building Champions, Helen’s ruggers head south with a clear collective mandate: Yon Èkip. Yon Zil. Yon Rèv. One Team. One Island. One Dream.
