De Jong promoted

Mbachi Mutukula-Maregere Harare Bureau
ZIMBABWE Rugby Union executive vice-president Colleen de Jong was recently appointed as a new committee member in the International Rugby Board during their general assembly meeting held in Marcoussis, France.

De Jong’s appointment was announced at the Confederation of African Rugby gathering for their General Assembly Meeting.

This year, the general assembly took place in two parts with first of all an extraordinary assembly. In keeping with IRB policy which only last month was officially renamed World Rugby, CAR proposed a vote to decide on the new name of the association.

David Gilbert (Botswana) vice-president, Mervin Green (South Africa) general secretary, Marcellin Zahui (Cote d’Ivore) treasurer, Guédel N’Diaye (Senegal), Khaled Babbou (Tunisia), Richard Omwela (Kenya), Colleen de Jong (Zimbabwe new member) Bradley Basson (Namibia new member), are the new executive who were elected.

“I’m honoured and humbled to represent Zimbabwe at this level and I’m very grateful for the confidence shown in our ability and commitment to playing a major part in the sport on the continent.

“To have our Zimbabwe rugby community’s efforts and performance recognised in such a way is an honour.

“I look forward to representing my country in this forum and working with rugby for continued development and performance of the game in Africa,” said De Jong.

The newly elected executive committee will assist him to successfully carry out the association’s projects, a very stable committee indeed as it only boasts two new members.

Rugby Africa was unanimously voted. The new logo, as well as the new website was also presented.

During the assembly, Abdelaziz Bougja, incumbent president, was re-elected by a large majority and will again be at the head of the association for the next four years.

The second part of the meeting – the ordinary general assembly – was the opportunity to confirm several decisions and projects.

All Rugby Africa welcomed new nations of the oval ball which included Lesotho, Guinea, Malawi and Sierra Leone were accepted as new members of the organisation.

Other federations had also applied for membership, but their applications will be reviewed at a later stage as more work is still needed right now.

With new countries on board, the number of competitions might increase and the number of players is definitely growing. Therefore, the executive committee decided to establish a medical committee which will officiate during all the African competitions and which will insure prevention measures are taken and players are properly prepared.

Big projects are underway with the signature of two partnership agreements between Rugby Africa and the South African Rugby Union, and between Rugby Africa and the French Federation of Rugby.

They will therefore benefit from the skills and structures of their two older brothers. These agreements are a big step forward for rugby development and will no doubt bear their fruits in the near future.

To support its efforts, Rugby Africa is growing his team.

Three regional development officers Erick Situma, Charles Yapo and Mohamed Dermouni have been employed on a part-time basis and will only be officially appointed on a full-time basis starting January 2015 which will strengthen Rugby Africa’s assistance to all unions.

At the same time Berthin Rafalimanana signed a part-time contract and will be responsible for the countries of the Indian Ocean area.