dyton mupawaenda
Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter
THE festive holidays bring with it time to relax and reconnect with families.
But for former rugby players like France-based Shayne Makombe, Daniel Hondo, Spain-based Simba Mandiona, Kudzai Mashawi, Prayer Chitenderu, Nyasha Tarusenga (Hong Kong) and Teddy “Boxer” Hwata, the festive season is also about giving back to the constituency that birthed their sporting careers.
They were part of the 12 rugby coaches that were involved in an elite rugby training camp held at Harare Sports Club yesterday, exposing over 40 young players to skills training and expert coaching.
The team of experts, that also included former Zimbabwe Under-20 coach Bob Mahari, Pitbulls mentor Geoff Madhake, Itai Nyakambaza and Tinashe Shamu of the Tag Rugby Trust, took the players through their paces and also had video sessions to explain the concepts.
Players from Pitbulls, Bisons and Bulldogs and also girls from such schools as Vinona and Girls High benefited from the programme bankrolled with generous support from Harare Sports Club, Tag Rugby Trust and Pacific Cigarettes, who provided training kits and other resources.
Makombe, who played for the national team and won accolades, said the programme should inspire the younger players to pursue their dreams with confidence.
“I finished school at Churchill in 2010, then went to South Africa and now I am in France. My (former) coach (Geoff Madhake) and all the other old boys are always saying that we need to be giving back to the school and to the rugby programme.
“And for Christmas, we had so many old boys back in the country, so we said since we are all at home we have got a wonderful opportunity to do something and give back and we can use rugby as a tool to share and prepare the boys for the next season.
“Because we are all playing in different countries, we said we can all come together, create a one day programme and coach the kids, show them what we are learning out there and also tell them our stories and hopefully in the process inspire them to pursue whatever dreams they have in their lives.
“They have got real life examples of people who are walking in the same footsteps as they are doing now because we were at Churchill, the exact same space that they are in at the moment.
“So, we decided to do the camp and obviously for things to happen we need support and we are hoping to make this an annual event and potentially go even bigger and have more boys and girls and do it even longer. Ideally we would like to do this training camp for a whole week. So this is just the beginning,” said Makombe.
The budding rugby players were taken through defensive patterns and techniques, individual and team skills. They were also taught different types of tackles, how to defend ball and man, how to chop and how to tackle a side-on tackle.
Afterwards they also did attack skills and played practice games against each other.
Bob Mahari, who is the director of rugby at Lomagundi and one of the coaches at Pitbulls Rugby Club, said the turnout for the inaugural programme was overwhelming.
“The real gem for me is that it’s 22nd December and it’s a holiday and a lot of kids are sitting on a couch somewhere watching television and playing games.
“And, these kids are out here in the park getting healthy, getting fit and getting a step closer to whatever dreams that they hold. That’s priceless, so to say.
“The turnout tells you something. It’s a pity we had to restrict. We wanted to get 35 but we ended up with over 45 because we wanted to give them an experience of what an elite training camp is like.
“This has been a very informative session. I wish these are the kinds of things we should be doing all the time,” said Mahari.
Pitbulls Under-20 captain Vincent “Ghost” Chimwendo, who was part of this year’s Junior Sables, enjoyed the elite training camp.
“It helped me a lot. I have had an opportunity to learn a lot of other things that I haven’t known before. I would love to have many more camps of this nature,” said Chimwendo.
Nokutenda Shoriwa of Pitbulls, who is one of the fastest-rising female players, was excited with the opportunity. She yearns for more girls to take up rugby as a sport.
“I have learnt a lot of skills from this camp and I believe I am going to be a better player after this. We need to have more girls playing rugby but mostly they are discouraged by the parents and the society.
“But in life you should let discouragements put you off; just face your fears and follow your passion,” said Nokutenda Shoriwa of Pitbulls.
Former Zimbabwe international Hwata said the camp was informative.
“I believe the whole programme was a success. I think from us management we need to arrange more camps for the kids for them to get better,” said Hwata.
Kudakwashe Chiutsi, the Pacific Cigarettes trade marketing manager, said they were delighted to be part of the story in rugby development.
“As Pacific Cigarettes, we pride in limitless possibilities and this is what we term limitless possibilities, having young people coming together to improve their skills and make things better for themselves and the community and the country at large.
“This training actually shows us that it’s possible to break ground when it comes to rugby, hence our sponsorship with the rugby club is to make sure that people break ground.
“It’s evident today, the turnout has been amazing from what we expected. So we are very happy with the first trial and we hope the second trial will be much better,” said Chiutsi.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter