2019 has already been a successful year for the Bangladesh Rugby FU with the recent Volunteer Coaches Orientation Course.
From the course, 32 new volunteer coaches, 13 of which are female, have joined the rugby development team within Bangladesh with a purpose of spreading rugby more widely in the country.
The delivery of the course and the outcomes are all part of the unions wider plans for 2019 according to the BRFU’s General Secretary Mousum Ali.
“We are putting our heart and soul into the game in Bangladesh,” said Ali.
“We want to develop club rugby with a strong platform from which to enlarge and continue the domestic and age grade competitions.
“We’re looking to start regional development of rugby in very rural areas in Bangladesh and also to come up with a strong national side as well.”
A busy year ahead for the BRFU, but with people like Country Coordinator Mahfizul Islam involved the right people are in place.
“Regional development is the big goal for us in 2019,” added Islam.
“But we are also starting a new project called Rugby At Least Once a Month (RAOM). We are targeting 100 places to start rugby practice and retain GIR participants as part of this initiative.
“We have produced a branch of tournaments but with a limited budget and workforce it was a barrier to find a way to extend these to the mass, but as we continue to work we need innovation and courage to implement our plans.”
Asia Rugby’s Rugby Development Consultant Ben Van Rooyen added: “I visited Bangladesh in February 2018 and was overwhelmed by the passion and vision of all involved. Development officers were all united by a vision of using rugby values to change their society. It is an honour to work with BRFU.
“It has been rewarding to see Bangladesh rise from 38th to 14th in the global Get Into Rugby rankings.” Ben Van Rooyen
Get Into Rugby participation numbers
Bangladesh Rugby 51132 New Participants in 2018
