SHUKUMA BIRTHS 2 LADIES RUGBY TEAMS

MBABANE – Two ladies rugby teams have emerged, all thanks to Shukuma Eswatini wellness programme.

The Eswatini Rugby Union (ERU) head of development and coach Steve Raynolds made this revelation during the Ladies Rugby Festival held this past Saturday at Princess Pholile Sports Ground. The two teams that were established through Shukuma Eswatini are Malindza and Matsamo community ladies rugby sides that were among the seven that joined the festival. At least 135 players attended the event and this was a positive for the ERU in their bid to develop ladies rugby across the various communities in the country. Raynolds said tagging along the Shukuma Eswatini team that visits various communities to help promote regular exercise for physical health and mental benefits helped to unearth the ample talent that is hidden, especially in the rural areas.

“We now have two community teams in Malindza and Matsamo that were born through Shukuma Eswatini. What we do is that we take the sport to the community and those who are interested in establishing a team contact us then we send officials to help. Shukuma has the advantage of reaching out to places some of which we never knew existed and that helps in expanding rugby,” Raynolds said. Also singing praises to Shukuma Eswatini was development coach Wilson Dlamini, who marveled at the positive impact of the programme considering the absence of ladies rugby for the past two years following the outbreak of COVID-19.

Development

Dlamini said the month of June would be solely dedicated to ladies rugby development and assured the teams of more team building activities lined up. “The excitement of the players and their willingness to learn more about rugby is commendable. Shukuma plays a massive role in sports development because they take the sport to the communities and now the girls have a focal point instead of laying idle and being exposed to all sorts of risks,” Dlamini said. Other communities that have already established ladies rugby teams include Siphofaneni, Mliba, Mankayane, Luve, Mbabane and Malkerns.  Shukuma Eswatini will visit Siphocosini Inkhundla on June 25 this year.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: