By Steve DunsterWednesday 7 Feb 2024The Long Lunch with SteveNewsReading Time: 2 minutes

Luke Zeremes is the Sunny Coast Crocs coach, an under 14 Rugby 7s team. The boys will be the first Australians to travel to America to compete in international rugby sevens tournament Tropical 7s next month.

The Sunny Coast Crocs recently competed at Double Trouble 7 on the Gold Coast, the biggest under 14s Rugby 7s competition in Queensland. “The team went through undefeated over the two days and managed to take out the final in a very close game against a Gold Coast based rep side,” Luke says.

Luke is particularly looking forward to taking the team across to North America’s largest Rugby 7s tournament next month, after having originally planned a trip in 2020 with an under 18 girls’ team, only to be cancelled two weeks before departure, due to Covid.

“I decided to have a go this year with my son and his mates,” Luke says. “We’ll be the very first Australian side to participate in the tournament. They’re excited to have an Aussie team over there joining all the American, Canadian and European sides that will converge on Tampa over Easter.”

With over 200 teams playing from all over the world, ranging from under 12s to opens, across a number of divisions and in both the boys and girls, the excitement is palpable, and locals are throwing their support behind the team.

“We’ve been very well supported by some local businesses with regards to sponsorship and we’re really appreciative of that,” Luke says.

To support the team, visit their gofundme page and follow along with their adventure on the Sunny Coast Crocs Facebook page.