Colaba Municipal School, Yashodham High School win in the U-17 Boys and Girls category. A pitch report of the event.
Rugby is still not played as often and as intensely as it should in the country, but Mumbai is taking things to the next level – its schools are competing and winning big.
Yesterday, the Rugby Association of Maharashtra (RAM) hosted the seventh edition of the Mumbai Inter-School Touch Rugby Championship 2012 at the Bombay Gymkhana Ground, under the auspices of the Western Indian Rugby Football Union (WIRFU). Over 50 teams participated from across Mumbai city and suburb schools. Both boys and girls in the Under-12, Under-14 & Under-17 age categories participated. Actor and rugby player Rahul Bose was the chief guest for the event.
The U-17 winners were Colaba Municipal School (boys) and Yashodham High School, Goregaon (girls), while the U-14 winners were Lokhandwala Foundation School, Kandivali (boys) and St Mary’s Convent High School, Mulund (girls). The U-12 boys winners’ cup was lifted by NM Joshi Municipal School.
Speaking on the occasion, Nasser Hussain, Secretary, Rugby Association of Maharashtra said, “We were pleased to see the enthusiasm, participation and eagerness in representatives from schools across Mumbai, suburban and Thane district to adopt and support the game. There is no dearth of talent in these areas, and today’s Championship asserted that the next breed of national players will come from here. As flag bearers of the sport, we are committed to nurture new talent and simultaneously increase awareness about Rugby as a noble sport.”
The first Mumbai Schools Touch Rugby Tournament was organised in 2006 at the Bombay Gymkhana grounds for Under-14 Boys and Under-16 Boys age categories. The main purpose of the school programme was the grassroots development of the sport and to target the youth. In 2010, with growing interest, popularity and enthusiasm for rugby, the tournament was sub-divided into the Mumbai City Schools, Mumbai Suburb Schools and Thane district categories.