Break Sports'' programme.

A Canadian women's rugby team returned to their Sandys Parish guest house after practice on Friday night to find it had been broken into and their rooms ransacked.

It was learned yesterday the guest house is the Government-run camping facility Messina House on Boaz Island. And due to an absence of locks and bolts, the students were using sticks to secure several of windows and doors.

A Police spokesman confirmed "a quantity of cash and several Sony Walkman head stereos'' were stolen in the break-in. An investigation was continuing.

Coach Mr. Gary MacDonald told The Royal Gazette that the Niagara Falls Women's Rugby Team was not too upset over the thefts. They were victims of a worse robbery on a previous tour.

Thieves burst into a number of the girls' hotel rooms, grabbing all their cash and forcing them to flee for help. "They're used to it,'' he joked.

Mr. MacDonald said the Sony Walkmans were not expensive models and the cash stolen amounted to $150.

"We got off OK,'' Mr. MacDonald said, adding: "A lot of the windows we were not able to bolt shut so we put sticks above them. We could lock a couple of the doors.'' Mr. MacDonald added the team had been fully aware the facility was not ready for the summer season. A paint job was finished hours before they arrived.

But they accepted it, he said, because it was only $80 a week per person.

Tourism Department assistant director for activities Mr. Randy Horton said the team did not come to Bermuda through Tourism's "spring break sports'' programme.

"We asked them to join after they got here,'' he said. "If they had come through us we would have encouraged them to stay at a hotel or guest house licenced by the Bermuda Department of Tourism. All such hotels would certainly have proper security.'' Mr. MacDonald explaining why the team chose Messina House, said: "Compared to $140 a night for 11 days that was very, very affordable. We were thankful to get the place. And it's a great facility. It's got a nice kitchen, a fireplace and rooms.'' Until the caretaker fits the facility with proper locks, the students would continue using sticks to secure it, he said. "We have more sticks for all the windows today.'' Mr. MacDonald said he did not think the team would leave with a bitter taste from the Island. Aside from the break-in, they were thoroughly enjoying the trip, though they have reportedly had trouble getting special student spring break discounts around the Island.

The team, made up of 15 to 28-year-olds, is scheduled to play Saltus boys at 3.30 p.m. tomorrow and the Bermuda women's team at National Sports Club on Saturday.

They arrived last week the night before the break-in and are staying until Sunday.

The student rugby players are part of some 400 athletes from US universities and colleges who are signed up to come to Bermuda this month for the new Spring Break Sports Programme.

Organised by the Department of Tourism with the help of a Connecticut-based travel agency and US mid-Atlantic and North East colleges, it focusses on four different sporting activities: tennis, golf, track, and lacrosse.

Mr. Horton said last month: "After listening to our tour operators and hotels selling college weeks, we have decided to make this change from sun and fun to sporting activities. This programme could grow in strength as the years go by.

At least we are working toward making it an annual success.'' Mr. Randy Horton