I found the unfortunate answer was that very few people knew who Scott was, including myself. I therefore decided to do a little research on Scott and the history of the Competition that bears his name.
On Good Friday 2004 The Wales Rugby League U16s side played against England in Aberavon. Starting the match at Centre on his home ground was Aberavon Fighting Irish's young starlet Scott McCrorie.
According to current Wales Rugby League Students Assistant Coach Matthew Cuss who was playing Hooker that day - "Scott was an outstanding player - very strong and fast! Outstanding defender! - he would have attracted attention from scouts and big clubs definitely"
These thoughts are backed up by comments made at the time of Scott's death by Wales U16s Manager Chris O'Callaghan - "He was an immensely talented young player and had attracted the attention of all the rugby league scouts. We were talking to him about going up to one of the big academies."
Scott died on May 6th 2004 in Birmingham Children's Hospital from what was reported at the time as a "mystery bug" and later shown to be a rare form of Cancer. It was less than a month after he had played in the Wales vs England match.
To answer how far he might have gone in the sport we need look no further than his Centre partner on that day. The name Lee Williams will be well known to Welsh Rugby League fans having won 7 caps and turned out for both Celtic Crusaders and South Wales Scorpions. By all accounts Scott was as good a player as Lee, so would it be too much of a stretch to say that Scott could well have become a top International player? The sad truth is that we will never know.
The Tournament this year comes 10 years after Scott's death, and while bad weather has meant that the tournament has not been played every year, the matches that have been played form a fitting tribute to this young player.
The tournament was first run by the Aberavon Fighting Irish at the end of the 2004 & 2005 Seasons as both Senior and Junior Competitions, but as these were "unofficial" tournaments very little is known about their outcomes.
Wales Rugby League first took over the running of the Tournament in 2006 and switched it from a post-season competition to a pre-season one.
The first Tournament was played at Blackwood RFC in what was the very first appearance of the successful yet short-lived Blackwood Bulldogs side. The Cardiff Demons were victorious on that day and retained their title in Blackwood two years later.
In 2009 the Tournament was held at the home of the holders Cardiff Demons at St.Albans RFC. The tournament will be remembered as the one where the first result of each club counted towards the league that season - a move that raised a few eyebrows and was not repeated.
2009 signalled the start of a period of dominance from the Valley Cougars as the first of their three victories in the three most recent tournaments.
This year the Tournament returns to Blackwood and with all eight Conference sides expected to enter, there appears to be no clear favourite. The holders Valley Cougars will be entering their 'A' team, which is unlikely to be supplemented with players from their first team, as they are playing their own match in the Conference South at Oxford the day before.
The reformed Blue Bulls have signed a lot of players and will be strong, as will current champions Torfaen Tigers. Less is known about the new sides Aber Valley Wolves, Cardiff Spartans and Gwendraeth Valley Raiders, but for them it will be a great opportunity to judge where they are in their development. Established Conference sides Cardiff Demons and Newport Titans complete the lineup and have as good a chance as anyone to win the competition on the day.
Whoever wins this year will achieve the title of "Scott McCrorie 9s Champions 2014", it is my hope that they will now have a greater understanding of who Scott was and appreciate this title all the more.
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