Rugby’s iron lady Mnikwa
LEFT to her own devices, Abigail Mnikwa is perfectly comfortable spending her days curled up on the couch with a good book or flipping through the channels to watch any sporting event.
A self-confessed sport fanatic, she will watch anything and root for any team or person.
However, she reserves her heart for 20-time Glam Slam tennis champion Roger Federer and three-time Rugby World Cup winners New Zealand.
She enjoys “always being a Zimbabwe supporter above all else” as Mnikwa, who just finished reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “Americana”, puts it.
Unfortunately, life is never that easy and time is one commodity she can’t afford.
Instead, Mnikwa’s time is divided between her work in physiotherapy, or on the rugby pitch where she is fast emerging as one of the leading lights of the women’s game.
She currently serves as the chairperson of Zimbabwe Women’s Rugby and board member of Zimbabwe Rugby Union.
She similarly chairs the Zimbabwe Rugby Covid-19 Relief Committee.
And in February, she was appointed to the Rugby Africa women rugby advisory sub-committee for leadership, training and conferences, before being awarded the 2021 Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarship by World Rugby a fortnight ago, making her one of the busiest people in the game. A true Iron Lady of sorts.
The timing of her Rugby Africa appointment, and scholarship, come at a time when the whole world is currently celebrating women, the significance of which have not been lost on the seasoned administrator.
“For me, Women’s Day and the whole women’s month are important as they give us an opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements, which ordinarily would either be lost or never told.
“As women, we are not celebrated enough and our stories are usually tucked away where no one can see,” she said.
Mnikwa is one of two Africans among the 10 recipients of the World Rugby scholarship.
The former Queen Elizabeth student views both achievements as just as important.
“I don’t necessarily have a favourite, or view one as more important than the other, as there are both linked and one will benefit the other. Both are very symbiotic of each other.
“The scholarship will give me an opportunity to become a better leader in areas that I am interested in and would like to grow.
“That is the beauty of this scholarship, which would then make me a better sub-committee member, and enable me to contribute more towards women within the rugby sphere,”she said.
Both World Rugby and Rugby Africa described Mnikwa, and her Kenyan counterpart Peris
Mukoko, as deserved winners of the scholarships because of their passion for the women’s game.
It is a point only made that much better if one takes the time to dig deeper into the unorthodox road she took to get to the top. Mnikwa’s time in rugby dates back to 2006 when she was appointed physiotherapist for a Zimbabwe Under18 team assignment. It was supposed to be a oneoff assignment, but she was egged on to join Old Hararians Sports Club, which she did as a physiotherapist. “It was only in 2010, when I went to
Greece at the International Olympic Academy, where I was one of the two Zimbabwean representatives at the Young Participants Forum, that my eyes were opened.
“It was quite enlightening for me and that got me interested in the sport administration side of rugby.
“I then enrolled for the Advanced Sports Management course with the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee,” Mnikwa said.
Since then, she has assisted with the Harare province rugby board, as well as the National Rugby League, where she was the secretary for both.
Her start with women’s rugby came after 2011 when she stepped down from the Harare and National Rugby League boards.
She started off as a committee member, right up to chairing it.
Her time has had its ups and downs, with the trials and challenges she faced giving her a thick skin.
“Working as an administrator in a male-dominated sport has not been easy or hard per se.
“I was fortunate that when I started off in rugby, it was as a physiotherapist and I mostly worked with men.
“I started with the Under-18 and worked my way up to the Sables, so it was always a male environment.
“I did my time, earned their respect and became one of them.
“Sitting on the board, one of the issues was that when you raise your voice as a woman, you are seen as being emotional.
“Over time, I learnt to be as factual as possible and try to dispel such notions.
“I have also been fortunate that most of the men that I have worked with know and respect me, so there have never been any real issues with conduct,” she said.
As a side note, most people don’t know that Mnikwa is a frontline volunteer during the current Covid-19 pandemic.
It is an experience that she has described as surreal.
“I have been working as a physiotherapist at a Covid-19 hospital during the last couple of months, and it has been a very challenging experience.
“As a frontline worker, having experienced what I have experienced, I have had highs and lows during this period.
“I felt the pressure of the second wave, as we worked long periods of time, and it has taught me the importance of a sound support system.
“I have worked with great people and we have supported each other.
“From a sporting perspective, the pandemic has made planning very difficult,” Mnikwa said.