Cricket association to launch U-15 league

RCA president, Eddie Balaba. Rwanda Cricket Association (RCA) is set to launch the Under-15 school’s cricket championship next year as part of the long-term strategy to build a solid cricket foundation for the country. RCA president, Eddie Balaba Mugarura said that the goal is to identify promising cricketers at an early age so that they can have enough time to develop their talents to the best possible standard. “RCA is planning to officially launch an Under 15 school’s league for both boys and girls early next year, starting around February. The goal is to build on the previous committee’s solid foundation,” Balaba said in an interview with Times Sport. Since his election in April, Balaba and his executive committee have focused on introducing cricket outside Kigali to make the game a truly countrywide sport. He noted that the association has successfully organised weekly inter-schools’ games that are creating a competitive buzz among schools across the country. “We are also focusing on having more schools across Rwanda playing cricket. This way, we shall be able to have a large pool of players to pick from teams to represent the country in regional and continental competitions. Building a solid foundation at the grassroots level is not enough without the infrastructure and coaches to develop the sport,” Balaba noted. To address the issue of infrastructure the association plans to construct four more grounds on top of the current two (Gahanga and Kicukiro). So far, cricket is played in only 9 of the 30 districts in Rwanda but RCA says the target is to spread the game to all the 30. In February this year, RCA disclosed that the number of cricket players in Rwanda had reached 7,000. In a bid to nurture talent, the local cricket governing body has also put up a cricket academy, where the 15 best boys and 15 girls will be identified to undergo comprehensive training for three years at a project under the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre (IPRC-Kigali). Balaba believes that involving the kids in inter-schools’ competitions will aid them to compete against their regional peers, who are more superior in terms of skills and techniques. In a separate interview, Jackson Nzayisenga, the schools coordinator at RCA disclosed that they have entered into a partnership with the Rwanda Schools Sports Federation (FRSS) to increase the number of schools playing cricket. The ultimate goal is to start participating in the annual regional Inter-school’s competition (FEASSSA). “We have started touring different schools in districts across the country to introduce the sport where it has not reached and also to improve performance of young cricketers in schools where the game already exists,” he said. He said that last weekend; they were in Huye district, Southern Province where five schools namely; GS Cyarwa Boys, Regina Pacis SS CEFOTEC, GS Cyarwa Girls, GS Gatagara and GS Butare played friendly games. This coming weekend, they will be in Kicukiro district at Kagarama SS, GS Gahanga, GS Kicukiro and GS Ntarama. Last month, RCA sent a women’s team to Nairobi, Kenya for a tri-nation tournament that also had Uganda and Kenya—in the same month, the Rwanda U19 boys’ team participated in the schools’ week in Kampala where they played five games, winning two and losing three. This month, Rwanda Cricket Association will host Nyakasura School from Uganda to play against the national U19 boys’ team. The senior men’s national team, which is currently in training camp, will take on Uganda, Kenya and five cricket clubs from the United Kingdom in a tournament organized as part of the activities to launch the much-anticipated state-of-the-art International Cricket Stadium in Gahanga Sector, Kicukiro district. editorial@newtimes.co.rw