Kenya: Women's Rugby Tipped to Become Major Sports Industry in Kenya

By Omondi Onyatta

Nairobi — Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) chair Oduor Gangla believes women's rugby in Kenya has the potential to grow big if only enough investment is pumped into the game.

Oduor said women's rugby is a goldmine from which investors can reap maximum benefits if they take the first step of sponsoring the growth of the game.

"I believe that women's rugby has made a big difference. By the way, I tend to tell sponsors that they can reap maximum benefits if they invest in women's rugby. Somehow we are still stuck on men's rugby. We need initiatives for women's rugby because we cannot sell it the same way we do for the men's game," Oduor said.

He lamented the fact that the involvement of women in rugby has been greatly hampered by old-school rules and traditions that disadvantage those with a passion for the game.

"There are clubs, even today, that don't allow women members in their ranks. That's the custom... that's the way rugby has been. So you can see why SDG no. 5, which revolves around gender equality, has a long way to go as far as rugby is concerned. We want rugby to be a game for all because you can't have rugby if women are excluded," he said.

Oduor added: "That is why we are at the forefront of pushing women's agenda as far as rugby is concerned. We have not reached there ... there is still much work to do but I believe that with the much we have done so far, those are positive steps."

He was speaking over the weekend during the Women in Rugby Grassroots to Global workshop in Nairobi.

The Grassroots to Global initiative seeks to bring together various female rugby leaders from different backgrounds to formulate solutions to deal with the challenges experienced by women in embracing and playing rugby in the long-term.

It covers 16 countries worldwide and will culminate in a global workshop of young, female rugby leaders in New Zealand in November this year.

Earlier this month, KRU signed a partnership deal with ChildFund to work together to identify and resolve any challenges to the growth of women's rugby at the grassroots.

"We can use this workshop to begin a new chapter in KRU. You can be the forebearers of this vision and I give you my personal commitment that we will support you 100 percent," he said.

The union has also been involved in the Damu Pevu initiative, which seeks to popularise the sport of rugby in primary schools countrywide.

This article originally appeared in Capital FM

Photo: KRU