AfricaPress-Tanzania: PUPILS from four Primary Schools in Arusha thrilled fans here during their Rugby Bonanza for the youth aged below 15 years.
Organised by the Tanzania Rugby Development Programme (TRDP), over 400 pupils took part in the bonanza held at Magereza grounds in Kisongo suburb, along the Arusha- Dodoma highway.
The top performer of the bonanza was the Mirongoine Primary, followed by Magereza School, while the Kambiya- Maziwa School managed the third position.
There were outstanding players who excelled in skill display. The best of them was Latifa Salum, a Class Six pupil at Levolosi Primary School; the second was Lilian Felix, a Standard Five pupil from Magereza School.
In Boys category, the top rugby player was Gabriel Godfrey, a class five pupil of Mirongoine Primary, followed by Said Ibrahim from Magereza School in the second position.
According to the Rugby Development Officer of TRDP, Juma Kittilyer, the main purpose for the mini competition was for scouting potential future rugby players, adding that the response has been good and since the sport started in Arusha, the move will also help propagate Rugby to other mainland Regions and the Isles.
“Next week, for instance, we are sending a team of senior youth players (16 years of age and above), to Dar-es-salaam for the periodical Rugby league,” said Kittilyer.
According to the TRDP officer, the youth will later on again participate in the forthcoming Beach Rugby in Z anzibar.
The Arusha Regional Sports Officer, Mwamvita Okeng’o lauded the efforts of the Tanzania Rugby Development Programme in scouting, recruiting and developing young players.
“They started with a single district and now they are covering five districts of Arusha,” she added.
Speaking shortly after the school Rugby Bonanza, the Regional Sports, officer, Okeng’o, said already TRDP have moved from Arusha, expanding the network to other Northern Zone Regions; “They are now initiating a rugby programme with the youth in Tanga, soon they will also start the same thing in Manyara and Kilimanjaro,” she added.
