Chronicle Editor
Nkosilathi Sibanda, Online Reporter
IT has been years since Hwange town witnessed a major game of rugby, and that has inspired a group of youngsters to initiate the tag version.
The town has always had facilities for the sport and the likes of Sakhumuzi Ngwenya tried to revive it with Hwange Diggers in the 1990s.
For a mining town that was once revered as the fort of sport, boasting of all that came with sporting infrastructure, Hwange last had a taste of a bit of competitive rugby a decade ago, and that was the last of it.
A generation of players talented in the game and those in the pipeline of stardom was lost. As many of them lost interest, some changed course and went on to explore other interests.
But there is a gang that remained dedicated to have the game played in the mining town. A group of rugby enthusiasts, combined with players drawn from two teams, Hwange Diggers and Red Bulls, has embarked on an ambitious drive to bring back rugby in the town.
Tag rugby in primary schools seems to be the best idea to start with, according to Dion Kamwendo, the lead organiser of the project and coach at Hwange Diggers.
Through concerted efforts, they have combined with schools to introduce tag rugby, a non-physical contact version of the sport, largely taught at developmental level stage.
“So far, here in Hwange, we have a few teams and we are hoping to introduce the game in primary and high schools to promote growth. At primary schools, these players are assisting with coaching. Other plans are to participate and invite teams from other provinces,” said Kamwendo.
He said in the long run they hope to partner with Zimbabweans in the diaspora to chip in, in a bid to pull in financial and material resources into the sport.
Kamwendo said they are tapping into their players’ expertise to help spread knowledge of the game.
“Our main aim is to revive the once popular sport which had become non-existent in Hwange. We managed to catch the eye of Mr Martin from the United Kingdom who is the founder of Tag Rugby Trust which is an organisation that teaches non-contact rugby.
“Tag rugby is safe for children and it accommodates both boys and girls. Our players got trained in coaching then ventured in primary schools to coach. This has seen a good transition into contact rugby as many of our senior players are a result coming of the crop of players from tag rugby.”
From the initiative, Kamwendo said rugby activities in Hwange have taken off in a good way.
“Mr Martin in turn facilitated that we get a new kit and other rugby equipment but we still wish for assistance so we’re able to travel as far as Bulawayo and Harare to play games,” he said.
Meanwhile, sport facilitators and coaches in schools have been invited to a tag rugby coaching workshop on July 7 at the Thomas Coulter School grounds.
Online Reporter