tawandamusarurwa
Sports Reporter
RUGBY will spice up proceedings at this year’s Zimbabwe Agricultural Show (ZAS) as it will host the inaugural President’s Schools Rugby Cup. A brainchild of ZAS, the tournament is expected to attract eight schools from around the country and will be contested at Under-18 level. The eight include Goromonzi High School, Mt Pleasant, Wise Owl, Kutama College, Plumtree, Milton, Churchill and Prince Edward School.
Two girls’ teams — Goromonzi and a Dzivaresekwa select side — are also expected to play an exhibition match during the festivities.
“I am a life member of the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show Society and have organised a side project, bringing football and other sports,” said Richard Karichi, who came up with the concept.
“I decided to go broader and try out rugby, one of the so-called elite sports, after which I reached out to ZAS chief executive officer Andrew Matibiri. Once I got his approval, the next challenge was to find a sponsor.”
In local engineer Kudakwashe Mutenda, the tournament found a willing sponsor, who forked out US$10 000 after buying into the vision.
“This is a national tournament and includes all the provinces in Zimbabwe,” said Mutenda.
“We had about 50 local schools that showed interest to take part and had to trim them down to eight for logistical reasons.
“We wanted to make it as inclusive as possible and streamlined it to schools from Harare, Bulawayo, private and Government schools, and a couple of institutions from high-density suburbs.
“We also had interest from schools outside our borders like Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and South Africa, but had to turn them down due to limited resources and the time factor.
“As the years go by, we hope to make it a bigger and better tournament, and invite those schools and institutions,” he added.
The tournament will be held at the Glamis Arena during the ZAS slated for August 28-September 2.
However, the games will actually be played during three days, starting off with a knock-out preliminary round tomorrow.
Goromonzi High will square off with Mt Pleasant, while Wise Owl play Kutama College.
Churchill and Milton Boys High lock horns, while Prince Edward meets Plumtree.
The winners of the four matches will then move to the semi-finals penciled in for Tuesday, after which the final will be played on Friday.
While every team that takes part in the tournament is expected to walk away with something, the winners and runners-up will pocket about US$5 000 and US$2 500, respectively.
The two losing finalists will get US$1 000 each.
The figures are, however, subject to change.
“The tournament is being sponsored to the tune of US$10 000, with the money going to things like transport, food, accommodation and some prizes,” said Mutenda.
“We are still working on the specific figures for the prize money as our priority at the moment is to make sure that all our players are well taken care of.
“You can, however, expect the prize money to be in the region of plus or minus US$5 000 for the winners, while the runners-up should get roughly US$2 500.
“There will also be some money for all the participating teams, as no one will go home empty-handed,” he said.
The tournament has been endorsed by the Zimbabwe Rugby Union, with the grounds that will be used at Glamis Arena expected to be line with World Rugby standards.
The union has also availed 15 professional referees for the tournament.
Fixtures and order of play
Tomorrow
Goromonzi High v Mt Pleasant
Wise Owl v Kutama
Churchill v Milton
Prince Edward v Plumtree
The girls match between Goromonzi and Dzivarasekwa Select will be played on Friday
Tinaye Agere
Online Reporter