BY PATIENCE LEPHOGOLE
The Botswana Rugby Union (BRU) over the weekend sent the girls national under-18 and boys under 19 teams to the fourth edition of the Soweto 10’s Rugby Tournament to be played from 15-16 June 2019.
This followed an invitation by the organizers of the annual event sponsored by Gauteng Provincial Government Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation.
This has been confirmed by Frederick Kebadiretse who is the BRU’s Sports Development Officer, adding that they welcomed the invitation with open eyes to give the junior teams much needed game time and experience.
He said: “This will greatly benefit them as they will be playing against their peers from the region as such opportunities are limited at their age group.”
He further revealed that the two teams were selected from the group that recently attended a school holiday coaching camp in Maun at the beginning of April.
“The tournament brought together some of the best junior rugby teams and schools from the Gauteng province and seeked to promote the game of rugby, provide exposure and opportunity to neglected talent while seeking to forge social cohesion in the process,” he added.
A South African invitation squad will be selected to participate against the u-20 side from France in April 2020 in Soweto. This is the first time Botswana sends teams to this tournament.
The tournament was played at Jabulani Technical High School in Soweto on Saturday and on Sunday June 16, a day which marks commemoration of the Youth Day, which is celebrated in remembrance of events that happened in June 16, 1976, also known as “Soweto Uprising.”
The team left on Friday morning and is expected to this afternoon (Sunday).
