adminSikhumbuzo Moyo, recently in Hwange
A FORMER Zimbabwe women’s rugby national team player has embarked on a mission to revive the sport in the coal mining town of Hwange.
Octavia Chikukura said her first port of call has been schools, and she organised a mini tournament at Sports Pavillion rugby grounds last Saturday.
“I decided to call this tournament the Kamandama Rugby tournament as we also joined the local community, the nation and the world in remembering the 427 miners who perished on June 6, 1972. They might not have played rugby but it was probably through their efforts that this field was built,” said Chikukura
She said going to schools would make her efforts easier.
“We’re involved with primary schools that play what we call tag rugby as well as secondary schools. I want to commend the schools because we’ve been getting huge support from them as you can see with the attendance at our tournament,” said Chikukura.
Five primary schools, Thomas Coulter, Lwendulu, Megawatt, Coalfields and Nechibondo attended the Saturday tournament. Chikukura indicated that other schools had also shown great interest. “I also want to thank the Zimbabwe Rugby Union who’ve been assisting us in our endeavour to revive this sport,” she said.
The late Milton Nyala, a former St George’s Primary School (Hwange) pupil is the most well known rugby player to emerge from the coal-mining town. Nyala was the first black player to play for the senior national rugby team.
Thomas Coulter Primary School won the weekend tournament after recording three victories and a draw.Next was Lwendulu Primary, Megawatt came third and Coalfields was fourth. Mpumalanga Suburb based Nechibondo Primary was last after losing all its four games.
Online Reporter