THE Covid-19 pandemic has not only altered the way we live our lives but how sport is played and watched.
Schools sport is one of the hardest hit. It seems as if those in power have forgotten that schools sport is part of elite sport’s pathway.
One prominent schools sport event that has become a permanent feature on our calendar is the Dairibord Schools Rugby Festival, which is usually held in April and spilling over to May. However, for the second year running, there will not be any festival to talk about.
Dairibord Rugby Festival marks the beginning of the schools rugby term, and unfortunately, that again will not be happening this year.
Spare a thought for players who were getting into their prime at the High school level who could have enjoyed playing first-team rugby for their school and enjoy the recognition that comes with it.
Spare another thought for a player from Mutoko High, Dzivarasekwa 2 High and Oakdale High School, whose rugby season begins and ends with the Dairibord rugby festival.
Sport is also one of the reasons why some children enjoy going to school. There is bonding. Camaraderie is built through team sport.
EnterSportNews caught up with Tichafara Makwanya, the former Prince Edward High School fly-half who feels very nostalgic when talking about the Dairibord Rugby festival.
He bemoaned the continued absence of the Dairibord Rugby Festival on the rugby calendar.
“Not having schools rugby takes away that edge of playing your last year and adjusting to more scrutiny and the exposure that comes with everyone else around you improving significantly,” Makwanya told EnterSportNews.
With schools sport banned to prevent the spread of Covid-19, players have missed out on development, and some will never know what it is like running through a tunnel formed by other students as the Prince Edward Tigers run to a packed Jubilee Field.
Makwanya is one player who has experienced the euphoria and pride that comes with representing one’s school at the Dairibord Rugby festival, and it is still his fondest memory of the festival.
“My fondest memory has to be running through the tunnel for Tigers on to the Jubilee Field when I was in form four. The tunnel was long,” he recalls.
Sporting rivalry is born once a key player crosses the floor to join a rival school, such was the case when in 2003 Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira joined Peterhouse High School from Churchill High.
The two schools played each other at the then COTTCO Rugby festival, and it is one of the best matches Makwanya has ever watched at the festival.
At the 2004 rugby festival, Peterhouse was the team to beat. In 2003 they won the Super 8, and their only loss was at the hands of St John’s College.
“My most memorable match I have ever watched at the rugby festival has to be Churchill vs Peterhouse in 2004, the game was tense with some big hits but Churchill put one over House with Beast in their line up having left Churchill the previous year,” quipped the former Zimbabwe Fly-half.
Another match at the rugby festival that still lingers in Makwanya’s memory is a game that he played for Prince Edward against Peterhouse, again the former Springbok prop Mtawarira featured in the match.
“I remember the match vividly against Peterhouse at the 2004 festival, not only did we beat them but it was more memorable for me because I put a big hit on the “Beast” when he broke off a scrum, and our supporters went into a frenzy after that big hit,” added the Old Hararians captain.
Makwanya, who has 42 Sables caps, traces some of his development as a player and big match temperament to the days of the COTTCO rugby festival.
“Cottco (rugby festival) helped develop my game because I had the opportunity of watching lots of players even on Monday and Wednesdays and moulded my game around some of the things I saw,” he said.
“Playing three tough games in six days also played a key role in my development and temperament as a player.”
The festival, which was first sponsored by COTTCO from 1998 to 2013 and then by Dairibord from 2014 to present, has become a very pale shadow of its former self. A lot of big teams do not attend anymore, some left behind are not well-coached, and the fixtures are always a huge mismatch, Makwanya said.
“It would be nice to see some strength for strength matches instead of teams dodging each other,” added Makwanya.
Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) has failed to harness the talent from non-traditional playing schools who grace the rugby fete over the years. Makwanya, who has come through the schools rugby system, had some advice to give to the mother body.
“The only way to get non-traditional rugby playing schools better is to give them more exposure by playing more games and access to better coaches and equipment,” Makwanya said.
The local game has been battling exclusivity and elitism, with quite a number of private schools in 2019 snubbing the Dairibord Rugby festival and even contemplating creating their own festival. The former Sables backline player thinks he has a solution to this kind of thinking.
“The only way to get all schools at Dairbord (festival) is to make it a part of the craven week or Under-20 selection,” he opined.
“Elitism will never end until those at the top show and make it evident that the game is inclusive by giving equal opportunity to all.”
Besides the thrills and spills of sport, there is the social aspect of playing schools sport.
“Schoolboy rugby didn’t only give me great memories but gave me friends, Makwanya said.
“I was fortunate to play alongside Denford Mutamangira and Tangai Nemadire in the Sables colours, but we were rivals when they featured for Churchill High School.
“There is another bunch who became my friends because of schoolboy rugby. Kudakwashe Chisepo also played for Churchill, Tatenda Murwira of Watershed College, Kudzai Nyemba who was at St Georges College. Then from my Tigers team, it has to be Leeroy Mashiri and Taurai Jani. To be honest, the game gave me so many friends and memories,” said Makwanya with a twinkle in his eyes.
