ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Rugby is a sport that is hardly known in Iraq, nor in the Kurdistan region. There is not even one rugby pitch in the country. Yet now a group of mainly expats playing rugby has set up a campaign to help refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kurdistan.
“Rugby for Refugees” is the title of the campaign set up to collect money for this cause, said Neil Young, who works for a logistics company in the Kurdistan region capital Erbil. “We want to raise the profile of their needs through rugby, and get as much money as we can through sponsors and donations,” he told Rudaw.
The Kurdistan region houses about 2 million refugees and IDPs from Syria, the Yezidi region of Iraq and other areas taken over by ISIS.
All money donated will be given to the Rise Foundation, an NGO set up by expats in Kurdistan—among them one of Young’s team members—that provides “lifesaving assistance for refugees,” as Young puts it.
Apart from local fundraisers in Kurdistan, an important part of the campaign is for the main players of the “Kurdistan Irregulars 7s,” aka “the Dirty Dozen,” to take part in the 2015 Emirates Dubai Se7ens international rugby competition from December 2-5, 2015.
They have already secured their first sponsors, who put their names on the team’s shirts, but there is still space for more, according to Young. “Every inch of our jerseys is sellable,” he said.
Because of its sympathetic cause, the team has been adopted by one of the teams in Dubai, the Hurricanes, that will give it equipment for training. Young is happy to mention that the tournament will be watched by up to 10,000 people, and hopeful that this will help bring lots of donations.
To make sure all money goes to the cause, the players will pay for their own trip to Dubai. Family members and friends are discouraged from coming along. “I told my parents to stay at home and donate the money the trip and stay would cost to the cause,” Young said.
It will be the first time for the team to play a real match, so it is training daily at the moment to get in the very best shape possible. “In Kurdistan we are the only existing team, and there are no pitches,” Young said.
Young and his friends—“boys and girls from all over the world” as he says—play so-called touch rugby, which is less tough than the contact rugby most often seen on TV and in movies. They started off in September 2014, and now have some 25 people involved. They differ in appearances, as many are expats on rotation between Kurdistan and their home countries.
With players from countries including Kenya, Canada, Scotland, England, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Macedonia, Croatia, Greece, the US and Iraqi Kurdistan, they play on an amateur level twice a week in Erbil’s Ainkawa Christian enclave.
Many have a past in rugby, like Young himself, who played with the Ottawa Beavers in his homeland of Canada. The initiative in Kurdistan helped him to shape up after many years of inactivity. “I lost about a hundred kilos to get back playing,” he said.
Although the broad-shouldered Young goes all soft when he recounts playing games of ball with young IDPs in Erbil, he admits the secret aim behind the campaign is to also promote the game of rugby, or as Young jokingly puts it, “to share the gospel of rugby.”
It may look tough and hard out on the field, but it really is a very social sport, he stressed.
“It is a great team sport,” Young said. “We would really love to have more local guys come along.”
That will not be easy, he admits: “The only way for the Iraqis to grow into it is to get rugby into the schools. In Lebanon, for instance, it is a popular sport because it is part of the university system.”
Yet Young said he does see growth for the sport in the Middle East, with more local players joining and playing in the Gulf Rugby League.
Even though the campaign does not intend to bring rugby to the refugees, as the name implies, Young would be happy if the outcome is that many join the sport. Then his team will finally be able to start playing matches locally. Rugby pitches can be improvised by painting the appropriate lines on a suitable piece of land.
But first they hope to raise money for the refugees, with an aim of raising $50,000.
Young and his team have been brainstorming how the money they hope to raise would be best spent, and that is not on rugby or balls. “We’d love to help education in the camps by paying for a teacher, because that is so much needed for the kids and their future,” Young said.
More information on the rugby program can be found at www.rugbyforrefugees.com.
“Rugby for Refugees” is the title of the campaign set up to collect money for this cause, said Neil Young, who works for a logistics company in the Kurdistan region capital Erbil. “We want to raise the profile of their needs through rugby, and get as much money as we can through sponsors and donations,” he told Rudaw.
The Kurdistan region houses about 2 million refugees and IDPs from Syria, the Yezidi region of Iraq and other areas taken over by ISIS.
All money donated will be given to the Rise Foundation, an NGO set up by expats in Kurdistan—among them one of Young’s team members—that provides “lifesaving assistance for refugees,” as Young puts it.
Apart from local fundraisers in Kurdistan, an important part of the campaign is for the main players of the “Kurdistan Irregulars 7s,” aka “the Dirty Dozen,” to take part in the 2015 Emirates Dubai Se7ens international rugby competition from December 2-5, 2015.
They have already secured their first sponsors, who put their names on the team’s shirts, but there is still space for more, according to Young. “Every inch of our jerseys is sellable,” he said.
Because of its sympathetic cause, the team has been adopted by one of the teams in Dubai, the Hurricanes, that will give it equipment for training. Young is happy to mention that the tournament will be watched by up to 10,000 people, and hopeful that this will help bring lots of donations.
To make sure all money goes to the cause, the players will pay for their own trip to Dubai. Family members and friends are discouraged from coming along. “I told my parents to stay at home and donate the money the trip and stay would cost to the cause,” Young said.
It will be the first time for the team to play a real match, so it is training daily at the moment to get in the very best shape possible. “In Kurdistan we are the only existing team, and there are no pitches,” Young said.
Young and his friends—“boys and girls from all over the world” as he says—play so-called touch rugby, which is less tough than the contact rugby most often seen on TV and in movies. They started off in September 2014, and now have some 25 people involved. They differ in appearances, as many are expats on rotation between Kurdistan and their home countries.
With players from countries including Kenya, Canada, Scotland, England, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Macedonia, Croatia, Greece, the US and Iraqi Kurdistan, they play on an amateur level twice a week in Erbil’s Ainkawa Christian enclave.
Many have a past in rugby, like Young himself, who played with the Ottawa Beavers in his homeland of Canada. The initiative in Kurdistan helped him to shape up after many years of inactivity. “I lost about a hundred kilos to get back playing,” he said.
Although the broad-shouldered Young goes all soft when he recounts playing games of ball with young IDPs in Erbil, he admits the secret aim behind the campaign is to also promote the game of rugby, or as Young jokingly puts it, “to share the gospel of rugby.”
It may look tough and hard out on the field, but it really is a very social sport, he stressed.
“It is a great team sport,” Young said. “We would really love to have more local guys come along.”
That will not be easy, he admits: “The only way for the Iraqis to grow into it is to get rugby into the schools. In Lebanon, for instance, it is a popular sport because it is part of the university system.”
Yet Young said he does see growth for the sport in the Middle East, with more local players joining and playing in the Gulf Rugby League.
Even though the campaign does not intend to bring rugby to the refugees, as the name implies, Young would be happy if the outcome is that many join the sport. Then his team will finally be able to start playing matches locally. Rugby pitches can be improvised by painting the appropriate lines on a suitable piece of land.
But first they hope to raise money for the refugees, with an aim of raising $50,000.
Young and his team have been brainstorming how the money they hope to raise would be best spent, and that is not on rugby or balls. “We’d love to help education in the camps by paying for a teacher, because that is so much needed for the kids and their future,” Young said.
More information on the rugby program can be found at www.rugbyforrefugees.com.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment