The Sunday Mail
IT has been a women’s month to savour for Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) leadership and seasoned administrator Abigail Mnikwa in particular.
With the union’s president Aaron Jani and his management team having made promotion of the women’s game one of their major priorities, they have been rewarded with the recognition the country’s women administrators continue to get.
This comes amid revelations Mnikwa has been awarded the 2021 Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarship by World Rugby.
According to reports from Cape Town, Mnikwa is one of two recipients from Africa of the scholarship.
“As more and more leading women spearhead through the sports industry, Rugby Africa has positioned itself to continue boosting women’s involvement in the game, including leadership, by announcing on International Women’s Day, Africa’s first two recipients of the 2021 Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarships.
“This amazing opportunity qualifies two women from Africa to join the remaining ten women from around the world, who will each receive a £10 000 scholarship for leadership development support for formal or informal education, conferences, forums, mentoring and best practice study tours. Each scholarship will be tailored to meet the professional development needs of the successful applicants,” World Rugby said.
The scholarships are open to women who are currently involved in rugby at a governance level or are at a senior leadership level (reporting to CEO at third tier and above).
Both World Rugby and Rugby Africa noted that Mnikwa and Kenyan Peris Mukoko had been deserved winners of the scholarships because of their passion for the women’s game.
“With their eyes on the prize and having carved a reputation within local rugby in their respective countries, recipients Peris Mukoko of Kenya and Abigail Mnikwa of Zimbabwe are proudly flying their flags high when it comes to leading women in sports.”
Mukoko is presently a board member of the Kenya Rugby Union, a certified World Rugby licensed Educator (First Female in Kenya and Third in Africa), a Rugby Africa Unstoppable Campaign Ambassador (2020), an active Level 2 Rugby Referee (since 2008), and was recently co-opted into Rugby Africa’s Referee Committee as Interim Referee Association representative.
“I am thrilled to be accepted on this prestigious scholarship. This scholarship will certainly aid me in building my skills as a mentor, as well as my project management skills. Running the proposed programme for young girls will be challenging for me but it will enable me to grow as an administrator in the game of rugby and as a person. I hope to gain a greater understanding of grassroots rugby in Kenya while travelling as the proposed program is targeted to run outside of Nairobi,” said Mukoko.
Just as talented and experienced, Mnikwa has worked for ZRU for the past 14 years as both a physiotherapist and sports administrator.
Serving on the Zimbabwe Rugby Union board, Mnikwa is also Zimbabwe women’s rugby chairperson, chairs the ZRU Covid-19 relief committee and is a World Rugby medical trainer.
She was recently appointed to the Rugby Africa women rugby advisory sub-committee for leadership, training and conferences.
“It is an honour to be accepted and recognised by Rugby Africa. I am truly humbled by this acknowledgment. With my key focus on continuing to raise the bar for women in rugby and amplifying the rugby medical fraternity, I am determined to use this scholarship to sharpen my skills and understanding so I can move the dial within my goal areas,” she said.
Women’s Rugby Advisory Committee chairperson Paula Lanco said she was pleased that African women were taking on the challenge to become leaders, both on and off the field.
“Rugby is a sport, not a gender. As such, my vision is to see the Africa women in rugby compete on the world stage. The Rugby Africa 2021 Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarships is one sterling tool for our women to step forward and surge forward in rugby. Peris and Abigail have started on a journey that will only catapult them into the fraternity,’’ Lanco said.
Rugby Africa 2019 Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarship recipient and Women’s Rugby Advisory Committee leadership and training sub-committee chair, Regina Lunyolo, said the benefits of the scholarship would surpass the two women’s expectations.
“The scholarship programme is a fantastic way of empowering the current and next generation of global female leaders in rugby. Women sharing the space with male counterparts will not be a differentiator, but rather as an excelling professional who shares the same passions for the game.”
Rugby Africa’s women’s rugby manager Maha Zaoui said the scholarships were indeed helpful.
“A former recipient myself of the Rugby Africa 2018 Women’s Executive Leadership Scholarship, I have grown in areas that I would never have imagined. It set the course for my success to date and ability to alter women’s rugby. Thanks to this scholarship, I got into the MEMOS programme, which is an Executive Masters of Sport Organisations (Management), run by the International Olympic Committee. Peris and Abigail are on a good trajectory,’’ Zaoui said. – APO Group/Sports Reporter
