"Rugby4Girls" - Tackling Life on and off the field -

WHO WE ARE?

"TeamTackle" is an intercultural team of young sport enthusiasts from South Africa and Germany. We are trying to use the sport of Rugby to break down still existing gender stereotypes and imbalance inequalities, especially in the field of sports. With setting this project up we want to encourage other youth as well to start volunteering, to give back to our communities and to spread the power of humanity to foster positive changes.

OUR PROJECT

During a 3 1/2 weeks stay in Port Elizabeth, South Africa the project "Rugby4Girls" found it´s kick off in February 2020. To reach our goal of building equal opportunities for girls to play rugby and building a safe space for personal development, a manual had been developed. During different workshops, topics such as Gender Stereotypes, Sport for Development, Child Protection, the Role of a coach and some practical rugby insights have been discussed and common outcomes have been developed. The Workshop outcomes were later used to build a foundation for the creation of the manual. In an intercultural working process 12 sessions consisting of beginner rugby training and different Life Skill and empowerment exercises and games were created. The manual aims to not only focus on physical skill development but also on the personal development of the participants. Therefore, topics affecting the daily life of the girls have been chosen and connected to competences, life skills and values to tackle these challenges. Games and exercises will be used to create knowledge through the transformation of experience.

The initial plan was to use April6 as the starting date for the manual to be carried out in a High School in Port Elizabeth and a German Rugby Club. Due to the current situation this date has to be postponed. But nevertheless, we as a team are using this time now to optimize the manual and use our social media platforms to build awareness for gender equality in sport and promote volunteering. Especially during these times, we are trying to share the message of unity and the power of sport to bring people together and work towards a common goal even though we cannot be together physically right now, we can still spread our believes and visions for the future.

HOW WE ARE PROMOTING PEACE & DEVELOPMENT

Our mission is to share the power of sports to break down gender stereotypes and inequalities with providing rugby based sport interventions to convey rugby and life skills applicable on and off the field.  We also wish to open up opportunities for young people to part of this project and  experience the positive impact of volunteering and giving back, for our communities and ourselves.

The project is a joined initiative of

Global Sports & Play Initiative e.V.

https://globalsportsinitiative.de/

https://www.facebook.com/Global-Sports-Play-Initiative-112614117045105/

United Through Sport SA

https://www.unitedthroughsport.org/where-we-work/south-africa/

https://www.facebook.com/uts.za/