The 26th January saw the start of a President’s 9s tournament in Ghana involving four clubs, with the champions to be crowned in December. In a bid to welcome newcomers into the sport, the 9s is to take place on the last Sunday of each month, at Legon Rugby Field, involving four existing sides, the Bulls, Pirates, Panthers and Skolars.
The event will also feature a revolutionary recycling initiative, “Keep Rugby League Clean”, which will tackle proper disposal of plastic waste by asking fans, players and individuals to bring along their waste plastic as entry tickets, in exchange for an instant prize. The plastic will be collected and bagged for Aqua Africa, a recycling company.
“The competition will highlight the campaign against poor and improper sanitation in Ghana.” noted Emmanuel Akuklu, assistant manager of Rugby League Federation Ghana. We will use this year’s games to add our voices. We need to keep our playing fields clean.”
The RLFG was revived earlier this year under the leadership of president Nana Prempeh which saw Ghana’s men’s national team, the Leopards, take third place in the MEA Championship with a play-off victory over Cameroon.
In addition, the University of Ghana held an inter-hall rugby league competition. Now, a university 9s involving UG, University of Cape Coast, Regional Maritime, Lancaster University and the University of Professional Studies will also begin in April 2020, with additional plans to also take rugby league into schools.
