Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Bulawayo Metropolitan Rugby Football Board (BMRFB) has set its eyes on transforming rugby and turning it from an amateur game to a semi-professional sport.
BMRFB chairman Craig Change said they want to create a well-knit system from the technical to the administration side.
BMRFB started the process by appointing former Cheetahs coach Gilbert Nyamutsamba as the board’s director of rugby.
“What we’re doing is to create a well-knit system from the technical side to the administrative side. Basically we’re migrating from the amateur sport to a semi-professional sport. We know it’s a big challenge, but it’s what we’ve decided to do because it has to start somewhere. We think we’re the ones to start the process so that whenever we pass the batton, at least we would have set the standard,” said Change.
“We’ve identified a number of young coaches who are going to work with Nyamutsamba so that we have continuity. So, this is part of our move towards being semi-professional,” added Change.
BMRFB has also roped in schools and colleges, which now have representation on the board.
Change said they believe this move is crucial in any development of the sport.
“We need to get these guys and we need to catch them young. We’re going to primary schools, secondary schools, colleges and tertiary institutions because we want a system that channels players from a tender age right up to tertiary level and finally feed into the national pool.
“We’re looking forward to a time where we are going to export talent to even more competitive leagues. This is how it’s going to start from the grassroots. We’re going to lay a foundation and part of the way of retaining talent is through these academies and centres of excellence.
“As you know, ZRU and ourselves have become good friends again, we hope are going to have a good partnership with ZRU because at the end of the day we all serve rugby. So, we are going to work with ZRU to at least align our objectives and have a united objective because the end result is to get our rugby better,” Change said.
BMRFB said it had prepared a document it will circulate to potential corporate partners, with the hope of getting funding for its projects.
Administratively, BMRFB intends engaging specialists for guidance.
“On the administrative side of things we’re going to engage professionals to be part of our board. For example, we have to get people to run a sports facility like Hartsfield. We want to hire people who know how to run board affairs, hire people who know how to balance books, hire people who know law and we want people who’ll add value.
“It’s going to be tough, given the circumstances we’re under at the moment, but you know what, you don’t pay a price for trying, but pay a price for not trying, so, we chose to try,” said Change. — @ZililoR
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