Following the announcement about the upcoming Ghana Rugby Stakeholder Forum many stakeholders came forward to engage with the Ghana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) Board in order to support the development of Rugby in Ghana.
In a significant meeting between the General Manager of CFAO, Mr. Frederic Roux, and the Board President, Mr. Herbert Mensah, the establishment of a youth Rugby School / Academy in Accra was discussed.
Mr. Roux is also the Founder and President of the BAO’BAAS Rugby Association that is actively involved in Rugby Development in Senegal, Benin and Madagascar.
According to Mr. Roux BAO’BAAS has been involved on a low key in Ghana but would like to work with the GRFU in strengthening and formalising the BAO’BAAS school to form an integral part of the Ghana Rugby development framework.
One of the key sponsors of the BAO’BAAS Association is CFAO who is the distributor of Citroen, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Sym vehicles in Ghana.
Mr. Roux explained, “The name BAO’BAAS is a creative combination of the Baobab tree and Baas-Baas or Barbarians. The Baobab tree is at the heart of African cultures and a symbol of peace, non-violence and longevity. The Baas-Baas or Barbarians on the other hand signify friendship and a state of mind of playing entertaining and exciting rugby.”
Mr. Herbert Mensah said that he and the Board of the GRFU are very excited by the response that the announcement of the Rugby Forum elicited.
“Developments such as the cooperation between the BAO’BAAS Association and the GRFU are very exciting and it is destined to grow into a significant contribution towards grassroots development of Rugby in Ghana,” Mr. Mensah said.
In other developments various Ghanaians involved in rugby coaching in the Diaspora have contacted the GRFU to express their interest in becoming involved in the development mission of Rugby in Ghana.
Although the GRFU is currently run on a volunteer basis only, Mr. Mensah said that the blueprint provides for the appointment of certain key full time and salaried staff.
He continued to say, “Rugby globally provides exciting and fulfilling career opportunities to thousands of people and it is inevitable that the same will happen in Ghana. The nature of the Game dictates that structures are created and manned by full time dedicated people.”
Mr. Mensah continued to say that those who selflessly volunteer their expertise and time to Rugby at this stage will probably be the first in line to be considered for full time positions.
“We have opened a section on the GRFU website under “Partners” where volunteers can make contact with the Board to offer their services and to enter into discussion on where and how their contributions can be maximised,” Mr. Mensah said.
The Ghana Rugby Forum venue, date and format is expected to be announced within this week and detail will also be posted on the website at http://ghanarugby.org.
The GRFU Board also repeated their invitation to those who want to be kept posted on developments before and after the Forum to register on the website under the “Forum” section.
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