According to the festival director Sebastian Garikai, they have gone out of their way to attract a number of sponsors to assist in this cause for the betterment of the game.
The main sponsor of the event, Cotton Company of Zimbabwe has made available facilities for a series of Referees Clinics, lectures and upgrades which will take place during the course of the festival.
“We have had a number of problems especially when it comes to officiating, so we are saying; let these officials get refresher courses. The Zimbabwe Rugby Referees Society and the Provincial Referees Society are currently putting together initiatives to develop their ranks. While this is still being finilised, schools are therefore urged to co-operate and assist the society by providing names of people to undergo this referees training,” Garikai said.
Garikai urged all schools to take advantage of these referees clinics and said schools that are not going to take this heed might risk not accessing referees during the schools rugby season.
Some former players who are trying hard to become rugby coaches, have also been given a chance as the festival will also see renowned coaches running a coaching course during the course of the event.
“Zimbabwe Rugby Union in conjunction with the International Rugby Board (IRB), Sarfu and Cottco has gone a milestone to bring in experienced coaches who are going to conduct various coaching clinics.
“These clinics will cover a number of areas including training schedules, drills, forwards and backs.
“Some of the clinics will be player based while some are specific to coaches and be assured that they will be beneficial at all levels of expertise,” Garikai said.
