Women from the western region will take part in the Regional 7s for the first time.

The Kisoro Jaguars and Mbarara Lionesses will meet at the third circuit taking place 23rd October at Masaka Rugby Grounds. In the men’s-category, 7 clubs are participating and the champion will be crowned on Saturday.

The Western Region of Uganda didn’t have women’s rugby teams due to cultural misconceptions of the game and the nature of women but effort has been made to get women more engaged in the sport.

Inspiration is also got from togetherness, fitness, self-esteem it brings out as seen from the already established teams from the central region like the Blue Whales.

Having women participate is testament to the development of rugby in Western Uganda and it shows the game is played in all corners of the country.

The Mbarara Lionesses are coached by Timothy Iraka and they train on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The team captain is Grace Anyujukiire . After practicing lineouts, she said “Today’s training was wonderful, we have liked it. We shall get to know where we have reached after Saturday”.  Grace is attempting Rugby Ready online to get a better understanding of the game.

The Kisoro Jaguars are coached by Muhumuza Stuart and training days are Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Team captain is Abihikirize Gift and she  likes the togetherness it brings from all walks of life “I have never been as free and engaging with people as I am today because of rugby”.

It is very difficult to get women into rugby in the district due to community perception that women are not supposed to be physical or engage in such sport. Community sensitization is recommended to help in informing and breaking the stigma.  The girls are learning fast and one way to change the narrative is by having more training courses targeted at women.

The teams during training .