As the global community commemorates 16 days against Gender Based Violence (GBV) spear-headed by UN Women, Entebbe Swans Sports Club (SSC) is focused to unite to eliminate GBV, a prevalent social challenge through the sport of rugby.
The Swans Sports Club Rugby 7s Festival will be one of the activities to commemorate 16 days against GBV, something the club has always done.
According to its organizers, the event is set to attract teams from Kenya and majority from Uganda. The event is slated for Sunday 11th Dec 2022 kicking off at 8am at the Namate playgrounds (works grounds) in Entebbe.
SSC uses rugby as a platform to develop basic competences and habits that every member in the community needs to be successful in their lives.
“The opportunity to use rugby to address social challenges like gender based violence is very timely and it should be embraced to help raise citizens of upright standing in society based on the core values of rugby especially integrity, respect, discipline, solidarity, passion and family. These values are key requirements in any work environment and therefore their importance cannot be overemphasized,” Regina Lunyolo, Founder & Director, SSC said.
SSC has found that through rugby, community youth are learning social skills and values such as teamwork, negotiation skills, leadership, communication, conflict resolution, discipline, integrity, passion and respect for others; acquiring new interpersonal networks; develop a sense of identity, self-esteem, self-confidence to allow them to become more engaged in community life outside of home and beyond family structures.
All these fundamental values and skills are critical to ending gender based violence in our communities.
SSC are excited to have this tournament running for the second year with more teams from Kenya showing interest in the tournament. In its second edition, the festival has attracted 40 teams in the different age groups for both girls and boys.ranging from Under 10, Under 14, U17 and U20. Also, Rugby veterans from Jinja, Legends, Kyadondo and Entebbe will be taking to the field mainly in the touch category to inspire and mentor the next generation of rugby players.
“Last year, our partners Hotel No.5, Plus256studios, Uganda Rugby Union and Uganda National Touch Association plus many wellwishers made it possible to pull off the tournament successfully and have pledged to rally behind the club again,” Lunyolo added.
