New girls Kisumu Rugby out for experience in KRU Women's Festivals
Kisumu RFC's Knight Otwoma (with the ball) breaks away from a Comras RFC player during the first leg of Kenya Rugby Union Women's Festival held at Kenyatta University grounds on February 3, 2019. PHOTO | COURTESY
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The club's organising secretary Rita Onyango said they are focused on the main idea behind the formation of the club, which is to expose girls from Nyanza region to rugby, and ultimately feature in the national team.
“The whole idea is to expose the ladies so that they get into Kenya’s women national team. This is just the beginning of the long journey which we hope we will achieve," said Onyango to Nation Sport.
Newly formed Kisumu Rugby Women’s club is not bothered about winning the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) Women Festival title, but that to expose its players to the game.
The club's organising secretary Rita Onyango said they are focused on the main idea behind the formation of the club, which is to expose girls from Nyanza region to rugby, and ultimately feature in the national team.
The lakeside team entered into history books last month as the first women’s rugby club to be formed in the region. It made it’s debut the top competition on Sunday February 3, during the first leg of the Womens’ Festival held at Kenyatta University grounds.
They were pooled in Group C alongside Northern Suburbs and Stanbic Mwamba while Group B featured Nakuru Homeboyz and Blad Babes. Group A teams included Impala, Shamas and Comras.
The new girls on the girls were welcomed by 38-0 and 25-5 losses to Northern Suburbs and Stanbic Mwamba respectively during their group fixtures. They later lost 32-0 to Stanbic Mwamba in the ranking semi finals and later went down 25-0 to Comras in the battle for the 7th and 8th ranking match.
Onyango said the team is not perturbed by the results, as they are focused on long-term goals.
“The whole idea is to expose the ladies so that they get into Kenya’s women national team. This is just the beginning of the long journey which we hope we will achieve," said Onyango to Nation Sport.
Currently, Kisumu Rugby Women’s team has a total of 24 players drawn from the area, but it has not closed its door to new signings.
It is coached by Maurice Osano while the Chairman and Patron are Gideon Kidenda and Louis Otieno respectively.
Onyango said that two months into the team's formation, a number of talents have been unearthed, which if exposed will earn places in the national team.
“The talent is there, what is lacking is exposure to them, to show people that rugby is not only a man’s team, “she said.
With no sponsor to cater for their expenses, the newbies depend on well-wishers to honor its fixtures. The second leg of the Women's Festival will take place on Sunday at the KCB Sports Club, Ruaraka as Kisumu girls chase their first ever win.
