Rugby Africa in Dublin – Managers and Rugby Services Managers from the 5 regions was organized in World Rugby’s offices, in Dublin (Ireland) from 11th -17th January 2017. Rugby Africa was represented by Johnbosco Muamba, Adama Bakhoum and Denver Wannies.
The first three days brought together the GIR regional coordinators and World Rugby Staff. The three main themes were Player Passport, Communication and Planning.
Highlights of the outcomes of the last GIR seminar in Portugal 2016 which focused on reliable planning and efficient management of the programme and, a way forward were discussed. A vision aiming at increasing participation to 3 million players annually by 2020 and retention and transition of players was embraced. The strategy to accompany the vision includes planning and reporting ,training workforce, retention strategies & pathways , promotion, Impact Beyond programmes and securing funding. The Olympic Solidarity fund was proposed as an avenue that unions could pursue to secure funds for the programme. The coordinators were also informed about the progress of the ongoing trials of the modified half-pitch sevens which is aimed at making the game more accessible to larger populations.
Coordinators debated in-depth about a player passport to register and track GIR players. Several suggestions were put across for further review and consideration.
Day two mainly focused on communication. Emphasis was put on the use of the available media resources to increase awareness and publicise the programme by both the regional and union coordinators. Coordinators were taken through the existing platforms through which GIR activities can be highlighted. Brand hub was tested and recommended for use by the coordinators.
In addition a link dedicated to GIR activities will be incorporated within the World Rugby website where the coordinators can update information.
Day three main focus was planning. Emphasis was put on pathways, registration of participants and priority unions. Sampled cases of existing player registration were presented. Coordinators picked 5 target unions within their regions to work with and to test the available resources.
The Integrated meeting took two days of interactive discussions based on the outcomes of a global research report conducted by Gemba on participation and pathways and its implication to regions, growing and strengthening women rugby and criteria to guide development investment model in day one.
Day two focused on updates on GIR, training and education and leading rugby. Participants also discussed regional status of Match Official pathways and team work regarding union visits with case studies from Oceania for match officials and Africa for working as a team.
At the end of the workshop, each union prioritized 5 areas that would be given attention as an outcome of the meeting.
