// NZ RUGBY WORLD // JUNE/JULY 2015

After every session the kids go over

and get free food which is sponsored

and they get a health and safety talk about

HIV and malaria...and then on the sixth

day – a rugby tournament.’ JAX ROPER

Tanzania and I met them for the Malawi, Zambia, Botswana,

Namibia and South Africa legs.

“We stay in one area for a week and the coaches get split up. We

start with 7-8 year-olds, then 9-10 year-olds and 11-12, 13-14 and

so on. We do one-hour, one-hour, one-hour and we do it ﬁve days

that week. They come out of class or they come out of the

townships. So we pull the kids together and we go off to our

different areas. We coach the teachers or the people in the

townships who will coach the kids.

“The ﬁrst two sessions we take and the third one they assist us

with and then the next two we encourage them into coaching the

game. We teach them touch rugby but we started to implement a

tag version of Sevens from Namibia down. About 40-50 per cent

of the kids we were dealing with were HIV positive which is

down from 75 per cent 10 years ago.

“After every session the kids go over and get free food which is

sponsored and they get a health and safety talk about HIV and

malaria so we actually give them an education programme as

well and then on the sixth day – a rugby tournament.

“The schools get together and it is amazing. They all play in the

tournament and get a free T-shirt, and we leave a coaching book

with the teachers so they can continue playing after we go and we

leave balls, cones, kit, ﬂags...all of that so we leave it all behind.

Then we spend four or ﬁve days getting to the next place with a

bit of sight-seeing.”

But as Roper discovered, there was so much more to her

experience than simply teaching kids how to pass and catch.

Going off the beaten track in Africa came with its own hazards.

Camping along the way when travelling from country to country

was fraught at times.

There was one night when Roper woke in her tent to feel

something periliously close to her head. It was an elephant. There

were plenty of other nights when there were growls and howls

not far in the distance and Africa never disappointed in terms of

taking all the coaches out of their respective comfort zones.

“You don’t go to the main cities, you go to small rural towns

where there is only one water pump where you can only shower

every three days,” says Roper. “We were in the heart of real

Africa. Halfway into Botswana and further South, you don’t see

the animals going across the road like you do in the Northern

part of Botswana and the rest of Africa. We were driving along

and there is a herd of elephants walking across the road in front

of you like South Island sheep. And they are not little elephants.”

It was a hands-on, sleeves rolled up experience – perfect for the

Kiwi mentality. The quality of the experience says Roper was

determined by the amount put in. She relished the rustic nature

of the set-up and the need to be pro-active, robust and willing

to adapt.

Anyone harbouring just a hint of preciousness would have

found the venture too much. But those, like Roper, with

resilience, open minds and a strong work ethic could leave Africa

richer for the experience. They could leave Africa with a lifetime

of memories and a desire to head back and do it all again.

LISTEN UP

The kids were easy to

coach.

RIghT:

gAME DAY

The day of every

tournament was always

emotional.

LEfT:

LOVE Of ThE gAME

Rugby was a game

children across Africa

simply loved.

[ touching the void ]