Who takes home the trophy? All you need to know about the Lauréane Biville Tournament

Anticipation and excitement are high as the Lauréane Biville Tournament draws nigh.

The tournament was launched on 23rd April 2021 via a press conference and is scheduled to take place on 21st - 28th July 2021.

The tournament which was named after their godmother, the French international, Lauréane Biville is the first of it's kind with it's inaugural edition taking place in June 2019 at the Stade de Mat Genie in the capital Yaoundé.

Four teams participated in it's first edition with Raiders Rugby League Academy emerging as winners.

This year's tournament marks the place and vital role of young girls and women in sport in general and Rugby League in particular.

Eight female teams will be participating in the tournament and they are as follows;

1. Raiders RL

2. Panda RL

3. Bastos Majestics RL

4. Gorilla RL

5. Rock RL

6. Guepard RL

7. Sahel RL

8. Air Garoua RL

With regards to the fixtures, the teams will be divided into 2 pools and the top 2 of each group will move on to play in the semi finals and winners play in the finals.

In case something happens and not all teams are able to field players then they will play each other and top two will go on to play the finals.

Basically the tournament will serve as a platform for player selections for training camp. 

This will be done right after the tournament. The selected players will then be trained in preparation for the final selection for the Cameroon National Team.

The winners take home a trophy and medals. The trophy which is one of it's kind is a beautiful piece made of pure Ebony wood and bronze. 

The second and third place will get medals with certificate of participation going to the rest of the players( 4th - last positions)

Khalil Njoya(Head Coach, Cameroon Rugby League)  remarked 

The Biville tournament is the first and only one of its type in the continent of Africa. It’s something that the world is waiting to see and along with what’s been happening in Ghana and Nigeria they are all waiting to see the development of the women’s game.

He added;

As the second edition is almost upon us, the teams have been preparing for a while. We are now in the final countdown with only a few days to go before the biggest show takes place.

We had the opportunity to speak to Paul Youmbi (assistant head coach,Cameroon rugby league and President of Raiders Treize Rugby League) and these were his comments 

Organising this tournament wasn't an easy task mainly due to covid and also little to no support. Despite all the these, we never budged because we are passionnate about the sport and the difficulties can't stop us

Also seeing the girls having fun is just a big reward for us all.

 

He also said that they are grateful to their sponsor SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRAL who has been with them since the first edition of the Laureane Biville tournament.

The tournament will hopefully be broadcasted live on the Cameroon RL Facebook page or the Raiders Facebook page.