NSIKELELO ‘Sykes’ Sibanda, the Zimbabwe Rugby Union director, has urged all the participants at the ongoing Dairibord Schools Rugby Festival to seize the opportunity to rise to stardom.
Sibanda, who is assess as well as scouting talent at the festival, reckons that pupils must now take rugby with passion as it can enhance their livelihood now and in the future.
“This is a huge festival for them, it’s a huge stepping stone. They need to grab it with both hands,” Sibanda told H-Metro.
“They need to grab it with both hands because there is a huge future in sport now as we have seen especially rugby. They can get scholarships outside the country, go to varsity under those scholarships.”
It is from this schools festival that many players are identified and fed into various developmental squads that will be the initial springboards for the respective national age-group teams.
Sibanda, however, feels that the girls seem to be hungrier to succeed and move onto the next level of rugby. For this year’s edition, the number of participating girls’ teams rose from 30 to 34.
“When you look at it, the girls are the ones who have grabbed it with both hands because we have got girls who started playing for the national Under-18 who are now playing for the senior ladies Cheetahs team,” he said.