Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Rugby Union (ZRU) has taken advantage of the Covid-19 lockdown to revamp its structures and craft a raft of policies to grow the game and spread it to previously disadvantaged areas.
ZRU has taken a deliberate bias to give women responsibilities and include them in decision making processes as a way of encouraging them to take a keen interest in the game.
The union has committed itself to reducing the gap between the men’s and women’s game by introducing compulsory mentoring programmes whereby all senior men’s teams will have a woman in their technical set-up.
“The management team for all women’s teams must with immediate effect have at least two women in influential decision making positions. To ensure that the women in these positions aren’t just figureheads without the technical grounding, the union resolved to develop capacity within the women’s ranks by ensuring that for all training and education programmes, women will have a reserved quota for them across all programmes delivered by World Rugby educators across all strands,” said ZRU in a statement.
“To top it all, given that all registered provincial teams have women’s teams, plans are at an advanced stage to introduce the Women’s Super Six League in 2021. With the appointment of the high performance team coaches, the ZRU is finalising contracts for engagement of 20 women by the Union.”
Members of the women’s Sables and Cheetahs teams will form the core of those that will train at the high performance centre.
“As they play, they will assume guardianship roles for upcoming talented players in schools in their communities and will be used as vehicles for change in perception of women in the community and the fight against social injustices against women.”
Last month ZRU board member Abigail Mnikwa was appointed to the Rugby Africa Women’s Rugby Advisory Committee’s sub-committee on leadership, training and conferences.
Mnikwa is also chairperson of the Zimbabwe Women’s Rugby Committee and a World Rugby medical trainer.
She is also chairperson of the ZRU Covid-19 Relief Committee. -— @ZililoR
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