Eight primary schools celebrate late rugby player’s life through tournament

EIGHT primary schools took part in this year’s edition of the Shingisai Brian Nyabunze Foundation Rugby Festival at Milton High School yesterday.

Hillside Junior, Henry Low, Milton Junior, Thomas Rudland, Barham Green, Tennyson, Ntabeni and Baines Junior all fielded boys’ sides, while Hillside had the only girls’ team.

The Hillside girls’ team was divided into two groups to play tag rugby, a non-contact rugby game in which each player wears a belt that has two tags attached to it.

The rugby festival was sponsored by Consha Enterprises, a gold mining company.

The festival is meant to celebrate the life of Shingirai Brian Nyabunze, a former Christian Brothers College (CBC) first team rugby player who died in a car accident in 2012 and played with his best friend and Consha Enterprises director Shasha Gomez.

“This event is for the Under-14s or Grade 7 pupils as a means of scouting for talent in primary schools. The scouts present will determine the enrolment of pupils into Milton High School and to also groom this young talent for future Zimbabwe rugby teams,” said Gomez.

Fifteen students were selected as the best players of the event and will be enrolled at Milton High School in 2020. Four from Baines and Ntabeni, three from Milton Junior, two from Hillside and one each from Tennyson and Barham Green made the cut.

This is the second edition of the tournament following last year’s launchpad involving Bulawayo clubs Old Miltonians, Matabeleland Warriors, Highlanders and Bulldogs.

“We are excited that the schools participated in this important function. The boys that have participated are to be given a chance to enroll for Form 1 places at Milton High School if they want to come and develop themselves in this important sport that can take them to greater heights,” said Similo Ncube, the Milton High School headmaster.