Get Into Rugby - North 2016
Get Into Rugby North 2016 - End ofthe Get Into Rugby North conference in Tunis (Tunisia).
After 3 days of technical and practice sessions, our 9 trainees have gone back home :Alassane Condé inMali, Mohamed Aissaoui inAlgeria, Abdeljelil Abid inTunisia, Tarik Frizi in Morocco, Alioune Ndiaye in Senegal, Mahawiya Ouro-Koumoni in Togo, Kossi Armel Dossou in Benin, Anass Ibrahima Bizo inNiger and Bakary Soumahoro inIvory Coast.All agree to say that this meeting was areal success and that it took place in a studious and welcoming environment. The Tunisian Rugby Unionled by a recently elected new board were fantastic hosts. Khaled Babbou, Rugby Africa's Executive committee member visited the group daily and gaveTunisian shirts to all the participants as a souvenir. All were then invited for dinner by MrAref - the new president of the FTR - to discuss the future of the African rugby !
The conference as for itwas organized in two stages. First of all classroom sessions,a good opportunity for Charles Yapo and Mostafa Jelti to assess the advancement of the program and for the colleagues to get some inspiration from their neighbors. The girl's Get Into Rugby project being one of Rugby Africa's priorities was also evaluated ! The trainees then discussed various points such as training and education and related needs, ideal structure and capacities ; financial support offered by World Rugby and how to best make use of it through purchase of equipment and organization of tournaments or competitions. Lastly the new project called I also play referee enabling children taking part in Get Into Rugby to try refereeing if they wish to was also reviewed.To top it all Rugby Africa gave out147 "I also play referee" kits tothe present unions(backpacks, whistles, caps, bibs).The Tunisian Rugby Unionhas for its part, receivedkits and Get Into Rugby balls as a token of appreciation for its hospitality.
Practice sessions were organized on the beach with two groups of children. The first one was inmorning and gathered22 children, the second was at the beginning of the evening with 14 children. Each trainee got one chance to lead the group and proposeactivities. All of this under the wise eyes of Charles, Mostafa and Adama Bakhoum, Rugby Africa's team. Individual interviews concluded the workshop to answer everyone’ sspecific needs. The aim in the end was that people in charge of Get Into Rugby would go back to their unions with many new ideas !
The youngsters as well as the older participants enjoyed this conference a lot and it would also undoubtedly have pleased the late Jean-Luc Barthès who should have been the main facilitator.
Media Contact:
About Rugby Africa:
Rugby Africa (www.RugbyAfrique.com) is the governing body of rugby in Africa and one of the regional associations under World Rugby. It unites all African countries that play rugby union, rugby sevens, and women’s rugby. Rugby Africa organizes various competitions, including the qualifying tournaments for the Rugby World Cup and the Africa Sevens, a qualifying competition for the Olympic Games. With 39 member unions, Rugby Africa is dedicated to promoting and developing rugby across the continent. World Rugby highlighted Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia as three of the six emerging nations experiencing strong growth in rugby.
