adminin the just-ended season.
Kanyangarara, who has been at the helm of the league since 2006, believes that despite the fact that there was great improvement in the way they ran the league, there was still room for improvement in the coming seasons.
The NRL’s biggest achievement in the just-ended season was the return of Lion Lager as the prime sponsor of the league, making it the first branded rugby league in Zimbabwe in a decade.
“Of course when you plan there are some challenges that we meet and for us there are a number of things we did not manage to do, which we feel we need to improve on in the next season.
“We still have a long way to go because we do not have as many (qualified) coaches in the sport as we might have wanted to have and that is why we are planing a Level One course for Harare Province.
“Bulawayo have just had theirs and this is something we should have done earlier but we did not manage to do and we also need more referees because not all people want to be coaches.
“We wanted to hold a governance seminar for the rugby administrators, coaches and players on how to handle the sponsors and other stakeholders but we did not manage to do so.
“But I would love to believe we reached an 85 percent achievement or success rate, which in my view is not good for us and is not a good enough reason for us to be excited about 2011, as we could have done a better job.
“However, I think this is the best year we have had since the NRL was introduced but there is a lot of room to improve and I am happy that our highlight this season was the coming back of Lion Lager as the league sponsors.”
The national league was suspended at the turn of the millennium following the withdrawal of Delta Beverages, through their Lion Lager brand, and this resulted in many clubs collapsing.
Those that remained were mostly not able to travel to other cities and towns for their away fixtures.
But in 2006, the national league was re-introduced with mostly Harare Clubs – Old Georgians, Harare Sports Club and Old Hararians while Bulawayo had Old Miltonians, Busters and Panthers – in the fold while others jumped on board along the way.
It was only this year that the giant beverage manufacturers decided to renew their sponsorship vows with the league and they came back with their Lion Lager brand as the main sponsors.
And, for the first time since 2006, there will be rugby awards on Friday night in honour of the players who excelled in the just-ended season.
Kanyangarara believes this will boost the morale of the up-and-coming players.
Awards categories will include Rookie of the Year, Forward of the Year, Backliner of the Year and the Players’ Player of the Year.
Online Reporter