Mbare Rugby Academy.
After an emphatic victory over the Zimbabwe Under 19 squad, the ISB were unsure of what to expect when they set off to visit the Mbare Rugby Academy. We were warned that the children may speak little or no English and that we would have to come up with alternative ways to communicate with them. After a long journey through the less affluent suburbs of Harare, we arrived at the academy to see the boys (and two girls), aged between 7 and 14, already warming up on a dusty, uneven surface, barefoot and with little in the way of sports wear.
We disembarked the bus and were cheerfully greeted by the children, and both teams were keen to get started and enjoy this once in a lifetime experience. The ISB were keen to immerse themselves in this and we were told to split up and take a training session with our own group of children. This immediately caused slight alarm as we realised we had no idea of the skill level of the boys and girls (only later on were we to find out that four of the boys were in fact representing Zimbabwe at under 14 level!). This alarm was soon replaced by awe in our group after our first training drill, a simple handling exercise which was swept aside with surprising ease with many of the boys not only competent at spin passing off both hands, but well versed in the dummy as well. We then decided to challenge the children more and moved on to some more complex drills, not only challenging their rugby but also our ability to communicate with them. After some tentativeness in the beginning, the children soon relaxed into it and straight faces were replaced by laughter and smiles, which made the experience all the more touching and memorable.
After each of the four groups had played some touch with mixed teams of ISB and children, we became yet more impressed by the skill level and aptitude for the game showed by the children of the Mbare Academy. We finished off the training with an unknown touch rugby fixture being added to our tour: ISB verus Mbare Rugby Academy under 14s. The Mbare side had the home advantage and the ISB found the hard, dusty ground challenging, leading to a plethora of tries from the Mbare side and Max Allen the only one to salvage some points for the ISB. It was a tremendous end to the training, with plenty more smiles and laughter from both sides.
After all the fun and games we got the chance to hand over some rugby kit to the children that we had brought for them. This was a huge moment for them as the generous donations consisted of four team kits, over 30 balls and plenty of other rugby training gear. It was clear how much it meant to them as the children rushed in to receive the gifts and this impacted on the ISB very positively with Tom Rosenkranz saying 'The look on the kids faces whilst coaching and providing them with donated kit was a massive experience for me'. However none of us were quite expecting what came next as the a group of roughly 20 of the children walked out in front of us. All of a sudden one of the boys erupted into a 'haka' style chant and the rest of the group dropped to their knees and fists, snarling and hissing. It was a truly poignant scene and one which will stay with me for many a year. It summed up what an meaningful game rugby is not only to these kids but to Zimbabwe as well and to have been granted the opportunity to give back to the game in this way is exceptionally humbling. Mason Caton-Brown summed up the day saying: 'It was more than just an experience to see, coach and play rugby with these guys, it was an eye opener. It has shown me that rugby is more than just a competitive sport, but a way of connecting people'.
Poults kept telling us life is about getting and taking opportunities and this most certainly was one of those moments in our lives.
Pete Wild.
After an emphatic victory over the Zimbabwe Under 19 squad, the ISB were unsure of what to expect when they set off to visit the Mbare Rugby Academy. We were warned that the children may speak little or no English and that we would have to come up with alternative ways to communicate with them. After a long journey through the less affluent suburbs of Harare, we arrived at the academy to see the boys (and two girls), aged between 7 and 14, already warming up on a dusty, uneven surface, barefoot and with little in the way of sports wear.
We disembarked the bus and were cheerfully greeted by the children, and both teams were keen to get started and enjoy this once in a lifetime experience. The ISB were keen to immerse themselves in this and we were told to split up and take a training session with our own group of children. This immediately caused slight alarm as we realised we had no idea of the skill level of the boys and girls (only later on were we to find out that four of the boys were in fact representing Zimbabwe at under 14 level!). This alarm was soon replaced by awe in our group after our first training drill, a simple handling exercise which was swept aside with surprising ease with many of the boys not only competent at spin passing off both hands, but well versed in the dummy as well. We then decided to challenge the children more and moved on to some more complex drills, not only challenging their rugby but also our ability to communicate with them. After some tentativeness in the beginning, the children soon relaxed into it and straight faces were replaced by laughter and smiles, which made the experience all the more touching and memorable.
After each of the four groups had played some touch with mixed teams of ISB and children, we became yet more impressed by the skill level and aptitude for the game showed by the children of the Mbare Academy. We finished off the training with an unknown touch rugby fixture being added to our tour: ISB verus Mbare Rugby Academy under 14s. The Mbare side had the home advantage and the ISB found the hard, dusty ground challenging, leading to a plethora of tries from the Mbare side and Max Allen the only one to salvage some points for the ISB. It was a tremendous end to the training, with plenty more smiles and laughter from both sides.
After all the fun and games we got the chance to hand over some rugby kit to the children that we had brought for them. This was a huge moment for them as the generous donations consisted of four team kits, over 30 balls and plenty of other rugby training gear. It was clear how much it meant to them as the children rushed in to receive the gifts and this impacted on the ISB very positively with Tom Rosenkranz saying 'The look on the kids faces whilst coaching and providing them with donated kit was a massive experience for me'. However none of us were quite expecting what came next as the a group of roughly 20 of the children walked out in front of us. All of a sudden one of the boys erupted into a 'haka' style chant and the rest of the group dropped to their knees and fists, snarling and hissing. It was a truly poignant scene and one which will stay with me for many a year. It summed up what an meaningful game rugby is not only to these kids but to Zimbabwe as well and to have been granted the opportunity to give back to the game in this way is exceptionally humbling. Mason Caton-Brown summed up the day saying: 'It was more than just an experience to see, coach and play rugby with these guys, it was an eye opener. It has shown me that rugby is more than just a competitive sport, but a way of connecting people'.
Poults kept telling us life is about getting and taking opportunities and this most certainly was one of those moments in our lives.
Pete Wild.
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