Vampire Barefoot Beach Rugby May 13 on Flora-Bama Beach
Vampire Barefoot Beach Rugby May 13 on Flora-Bama Beach
The Vampire Barefoot Beach Rugby Tourney returns to the Flora-Bama Beach on May 13, with up to 10 total men’s and women’s teams playing round robin games of five aside rugby beginning around 10 a.m.
The Pensacola Aviators and Battleship Mobile will both send men’s and women’s sides. Baton Rouge and Gulfport are also expected to participate. (Info: 251-721-3956).
A fundraiser for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, the tourney will include a blood drive (thus, the name). Each team and most of the teams’ followers will donate blood, and the team with the most blood donated on their behalf will earn a special award. Blood donors also get a free bloody mary, a $20 e-gift card and a swag bag.
“Last year we raised 36 pints, double what Blood South considers a good day,’’ said Dean Wood, who is directing the tourney with his brother Dale. “Come join us for the fun.”
Dale Wood came up with the idea of hosting a beach rugby event to honor Alex Sharland, president of the Deep South Rugby Referees Assn., while Sharland was going through treatments for leukemia in 2019.
“Give Blood. Play Rugby’ is our slogan. We want everybody to come and give blood if they can, whether they are rugby players on not,’’ Dale said.
“This is a social event. That is our mind set going in,’’ he added. “We want this to be a celebration of rugby and kinship. Everybody knows somebody that plays rugby. And we invite those people to come out and experience what is always there when rugby players get together. Hopefully, they will want to give a pint of blood as well.’’
Team rosters will be limited to eight and games will consist of two five minute halves in the Flora-Bama sand.
“Ideally, we will be able to get in four matches an hour, but we’ll just have to see how it goes,’’ Wood said. “We are really going to encourage everybody that comes out to pack the blood bus. They were very pleased with the response last time. We want to smash that record.’’