Game, Set, Match - Playing to Teach

What Started the Game 

We look at two of our youths, Mary* and Ronald*, who started playing rugby at a young age and became inspired by their experiences.  

Ronald started playing rugby in 2012, and he was one of the very first players in their village. He grew up with the children in the village as the son of the village director. Back then, his peers played mostly football and not many knew much about rugby until two coaches came along to their village and introduced the sport. Playing for years fostered a desire to see how the children will grow while playing this sport. With this, he then started teaching the other children in the village to play rugby around 2018. 

 Standard Chartered is one of many sponsors who help provide for their training needs. This well-used ball is testament to the youth's desire to pursue the sport.

Mary, on the other hand, started playing around 2015. Her sibling invited her to play the sport with them, and they became part of the local rugby team that was formed. Sometime in 2017, she also started to volunteer as a rugby coach for the children in the village. Not only is she an aspiring coach, she also serves as an active volunteer and youth leader in her community. 

Both Mary and Ronald have experienced competing with other schools, and eventually representing their locality in competitions such as Batang Pinoy. Some of their peers who played rugby and aim to be coaches as well have even played internationally in previous years. 

Aiming for the Goal 

Their exposure to the sport majorly influenced their choices in their career paths, as well as their development as individuals. Playing rugby inspired them to pursue coaching for players in this respective sport. 

For one, they aligned their courses with their chosen career paths. Ronald is already in his 3rd year as a BS Physical Education student, while Mary, an incoming 1st year college student as of writing, will be taking a degree course in Arts and Sports Science.  

 Some kids are faster than others in running exercises, so they simply smile and wait before they run together again.

They recently trained for a week in Manila in pursuit of their coaching certification. They’ve been receiving funding for their sports endeavors, with Standard Chartered being one of their sponsors. 

When they were asked if they will be coaching for the long-term, their answers varied. 

“The path will really change.” Mary can’t predict whether her work with coaching will be in the long-term, but she intends to enjoy it as much as she can for now. And as for Ronald, he aims to pursue coaching for the long term. He was inspired by the coaches who taught him to be one himself. 

Not only did playing rugby and being coaches for the sport give them a career opportunity, it gave them confidence and instilled other values in them like leadership. 

“Knowing my personality, I am very vocal but sports helped me with leadership.” As a youth leader in their community and leading the youth council in their village, Mary worried about not being able to handle the commitments and responsibilities and being able to lead a group. But her experience in sports built her confidence in leading and in talking to people. 

“There was a huge impact on me because this sport, rugby, has instilled values into us like solidarity and passion”. For Ronald, every value and experience instilled in him through playing rugby goes beyond the game. Every interaction he had with his coaches and fellow players also built his confidence in talking to his peers in school. 

Coaching for a sport can be done at a young age as long as they get their certification. You can help more aspiring coaches reach their dreams at a young age. Visit https://www.sosphilippines.org/donate-(1). 

*not real name