St. Joseph’s International school along with primary and secondary schools in the Rigo and Hiri-West Districts have all undergone an eight weeks Get-into-Rugby training program that had them learning basic Rugby union Skills and core values of the game.
The Get-into-Rugby Program is run by the PNG Rugby Football Union and sponsored by the Niu Pawa Energies.
PNG Rugby Football Union CEO Sailosi Druma stated that the GIR program is used to target areas where they do not play rugby to grow the sport.
The five values of rugby, passion, respect, discipline, solidarity, and perseverance go hand in hand with rugby skills.
“We not only want to grow the game, but we also want to introduce these values so that the kids always have that when they grow up whether they stay in the game or find another sport at least they learn some values about life when they grow up.”
Although somewhat successful, Druma also indicated that like other programs, it does come with its own challenges.
He stated that some of the challenges faced by the schools that are in the program in the rural areas are the issues with teachers committing time to help the students and the trainers having a hard time organizing the kids.
“We provide the kit and the training but it’s up to the school to through their teachers and also some of our volunteers that visit the schools have a hard time organizing the kids for the GIR class.”
Druma said that it was more difficult for teachers in the rural areas to help the students as they are often short staffed compared to a school in the city like St. Joseph’s International where there are teachers that volunteer their time after school to stay back and assist the kids in the program.
Funding for the GIR Program is covered by a 20,000-pound grant given by the World Rugby Organization to the PNGRFU which covers Development programs and other unions in the provinces also.
This grant, Druma mentioned was what they use to fund development programs like the SCRUM and GIR Programs in the country.
“This grant is not much compared to the cost that we face to deliver this program in the country, but we try to utilize it the best we can.”
Druma stated that through his experience he has noticed that the kids really love to challenge each other at the end of the eight weeks of the skills that they’ve learnt at the festivals that all the schools in a particular district come together to play and enjoy themselves.
“At the festivals we can see the different skills of rugby and also play each other through the values of rugby.
“For us we’ve seen a big change in how they conduct themselves especially when they play and enjoy themselves and build friendships with friends from other schools.”
Meanwhile 12 schools in the Morobe province under the SCRUM program have also used the GIR concept as a part of their eight weeks training and are gearing up for their festivals.