Hwange awakens in tag rugby

Nkosilathi Sibanda, On-line Reporter

IT has been years since Hwange city witnessed a significant recreation of rugby, and that has impressed a gaggle of children to provoke the tag model.

The city has all the time had services for the game and the likes of Sakhumuzi Ngwenya tried to revive it with Hwange Diggers within the Nineteen Nineties.

For a mining city that was as soon as revered because the fort of sport, boasting of all that got here with sporting infrastructure, Hwange final had a style of a little bit of aggressive rugby a decade in the past, and that was the final of it.

A era of gamers gifted within the recreation and people within the pipeline of stardom was misplaced. As a lot of them misplaced curiosity, some modified course and went on to discover different pursuits.

However there’s a gang that remained devoted to have the sport performed within the mining city.  A bunch of rugby lovers, mixed with gamers drawn from two groups, Hwange Diggers and Purple Bulls, has launched into an bold drive to convey again rugby within the city.

Tag rugby in major faculties appears to be the very best concept to begin with, in accordance with Dion Kamwendo, the lead organiser of the challenge and coach at Hwange Diggers.

By concerted efforts, they’ve mixed with faculties to introduce tag rugby, a non-physical contact model of the game, largely taught at developmental degree stage.

“To date, right here in Hwange, now we have a couple of groups and we hope to introduce the sport in major and excessive faculties to advertise progress. At major faculties, these gamers are aiding with teaching. Different plans are to take part and invite groups from different provinces,” mentioned Kamwendo.

He mentioned in the long term they hope to companion with Zimbabweans within the diaspora to chip in, in a bid to tug in monetary and materials sources into the game.

Kamwendo mentioned they’re tapping into their gamers’ experience to assist unfold data of the sport.

“Our predominant goal is to revive the as soon as in style sport which had turn into non-existent in Hwange. We managed to catch the attention of Mr Martin from the UK who’s the founding father of Tag Rugby Belief which is an organisation that teaches non-contact rugby.

“Tag rugby is protected for youngsters and it accommodates each girls and boys.  Our gamers received educated in teaching then ventured in major faculties to teach. This has seen transition into contact rugby as a lot of our senior gamers are a end result coming of the crop of gamers from tag rugby.”

From the initiative, Kamwendo mentioned rugby actions in Hwange have taken off in a great way.

“Mr Martin in flip facilitated that we get a brand new package and different rugby gear however we nonetheless want for help so we’re in a position to journey so far as Bulawayo and Harare to play video games,” he mentioned.

In the meantime, sport facilitators and coaches in faculties have been invited to a tag rugby teaching workshop on July 7 on the Thomas Coulter Faculty grounds.