Indonesia Rugby , JICA and RKU Successfully Promote Rugby in 8 Provinces

The following article about Indonesia Rugby, JICA and RKU Promotion of rugby in 8 Provinces has been kindly submitted by Indonesia Rugby.

PRUI (Indonesian Rugby Union Association) and Ryutsu Keizai University (RKU) from Japan successfully introduced Rugby to 3,707 children in 8 (eight) different Provinces in Indonesia. This program is carried out with the collaboration Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and it is the fourth visit in the last 3 (three) years as part of the Rugby World cup Impact Beyond project.

This year visit began on February 13, 2020 and went for one month. A total of 8 (eight) students and 1 (one) Professor from RKU also developed the capacity of rugby coaches and trainers, referees, and Rugby medic. The Provinces that they visited this year were DKI Jakarta, Banten, East Java, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Central Java, South Kalimantan, Lampung, West Java and Bali.

PB PRUI Chairman, Didik Mukrianto gives his highest appreciation to Prof. Makoto Nishiki and his students, who for the last 3 (years) have helped introduce Rugby to more than 12,000 children in Indonesia. Japan is one of the top Rugby Country in Asia and has always been leading by example to all countries in Asia. Indonesia has always considered Japan as our elder brother in Rugby.

Prof. Makoto Nishiki in their final report of their activities explained how big the potential and enthusiasm of Rugby in Indonesia. In some provinces, most hard works are done by the young university students. They were in charge to run a Rugby Festival that involved more than a dozen schools and universities. Makoto believes Rugby in Indonesia will develop rapidly but need to have a long-term goal just like how Japan Rugby when they set their goals for Rugby World Cup 2019.

In the future, we are hoping for more of the Indonesia – Japan Rugby collaboration.

The schedule of the RKU visit this year were:

13 – 15 February: DKI Jakarta

16 February: Banten

18 – 19 February:

Group A: Surabaya, East Java

Group B: Palembang, South Sumatra

21 – 23 February:

Group A: Solo, Central Java

Group B: Lampung

27 – 29 February:

Group A: Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan

Group B: Banda Aceh, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam

4 – 6 March: Bandung, West Java