We Georgians love rugby and we appreciate it deeply. It’s not surprising, given the many happy moments and important international achievements that rugby has brought Georgia.
GEORGIA NOW met Nikoloz Alavidze (Vice President of Georgian Rugby Union) to learn more about the new initiatives that the Georgian Rugby Union is launching to promote a happy, healthy lifestyle for children and youth. It also aims to develop women‘s Rugby and CSR.
We began by asking him what the current condition of Levan Maisashvili was, the head coach of the Georgian National Rugby Team. This has been a source of concern for rugby fans. Levan Maisashvili, who was diagnosed with coronavirus in South Africa and treated there for more than two months, is now back in Georgia with his wife and family. “We’ll be seeing him on the pitch soon,” he said.
Then we turn to the present situation, and in particular certain problems relating to the election of the Rugby Union President at the start of the year. Alavidze tells us that the situation is resolved, everyone has calmed down, and the Georgian Rugby Union is open to all rugby-interested individuals for consultations and joint discussions. “Important success achieved in a relatively short period of time has helped the Union reach even larger audiences and remain transparent,” he says.
“Another issue was the financial situation, given the economic conditions in the country,” he says.
Now that we have the backing of both the Georgian government as well as World Rugby, we are open to sponsors.
He also says that the Georgian Rugby Union has exciting and impressive future plans, thanks to the active cooperation between the Rugby Union of Georgia and the Georgian Government.
Alavidze points out that a special focus has been placed on raising healthy generations in the future and promoting healthy lifestyles to the maximum.
“With this in view, we identified 45 regions and over 100 locations in Georgia where new sports infrastructure could be constructed, the rugby spirit developed and a healthy lifestyle encouraged throughout the country. This was made possible by the cooperation between the private and public sectors, in particular the charity fund Cartu which is involved in financing this important project. The project will allow children to play rugby and other sports. It will also promote a healthy lifestyle throughout the country,” he said.
“The infrastructure will be in line with World Rugby standards. In the post-COVID world, promoting a healthy life style is of vital importance. According to UNICEF statistics, only 20% of the 900,000 kids in Georgia have access to sports infrastructure. The remaining 80% do not. This is a major challenge for the country,” says Mr. Aji.
“To help our next generations, we decided that this challenge was important. We will invest heavily in the training and development of intellectual infrastructure for the regions. Alavidze says that we’re actively discussing with our local and foreign partners how to bring more knowledge, expertise and practice to working with children in Georgia. “The main goal is to improve and increase the popularity of Rugby itself. It’s one of the most popular sports in the country. We have to maintain and build on this. For which we have an ambitious and clear plan.”
Tell us about your plan.
We will build 100 pitches. But we also have plans that place a strong emphasis on the development of children. Promoting rugby amongst children is about letting them have fun and learn how to play. Rugby carries many important values. We want to share with children these values. We are working with World Rugby, and other stakeholders, to gain more expertise in this area. We are also encouraging local businesses to get involved and play a role in this process. Because we, Georgians love this game, it’s more than just a sports activity to us.
Unfortunately, Rugby is the only sport that Georgia has represented at the World Cup. The Rugby World Cup is third most popular team sporting event in the world after World Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup and gives Georgia the opportunity to present itself to the global stage. It allows us to showcase not only our rugby spirit and game, but also our country. We can show our investment potential, our business environment, our culture, our tourism, etc.
All these sentiments make us even more enthusiastic to raise healthy new generations in Georgia for a better and healthier future.
Tell us what is new in Rugby Union.
First, we are all united under Mr. Ioseb Temaladze, who comes to Rugby from the business world, is a very result-oriented, visionary person with superior skills in pushing all the necessary Reforms. The Rugby Union of Georgia has announced the formation of a new board and supervisory Council. This union, which was reformed, is now represented and connected by such renowned names, including Mamuka Gorogdze, a retired world rugby star, but still very active in Georgia and internationally; Davit Kacharava who played more than 100 games with Georgian National Team, and other members.
I would also like to highlight as major achievements in this short time, the creation of a new and efficient management system, formation of the long-awaited professional Franchise Team “Black Lion”, which will take part in two very exciting tournaments, Rugby Europe’s Super Cup, and South African Currie Cup”.
We are very result-oriented when we implement such reforms. The main message is that we must stay united because rugby is a game of teams. We remain open to everyone to achieve greater results together and promote healthy lifestyles in this country.
The Rugby Union is also focused on the development and growth of Women’s Rugby, right?
Yes. The Georgian National Rugby Team, the Lelos wants to raise gender equality awareness. In July 2021, the Lelos wore UN Women-branded shirts to play South Africa.
The Lelos, who had turned down sponsorship offers from traditional sponsors in the past, hoped that by displaying the UN Women logo as their jerseys, they would raise awareness about gender equality when they played the world champions of South Africa.
Georgian rugby players are part of a long-standing relationship with UN Women. The partnership encourages men to take part in the fight against violence towards women and girls.
Georgian rugby players dedicated several international matches to ending violence against women. This included the UN Secretary General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women Campaign and the UN Women global movement of solidarity for gender equality HeForShe. They also met with local men and young boys in Georgia to discuss how important it is to stop violence against women and girls.
Many people may not be aware that the Georgian Rugby Union is also very concerned about the development and success of women’s Rugby. We spare no effort to promote this sport among women. The Union has increased funding for the 7-member Women’s Rugby team.
The well-known Georgian filmmaker Gela Babluani is also making a series of films on Georgian Rugby, which will show the journey it has taken over the years and the dedication people have put into its development. This makes the Georgians so proud today. The series will be available internationally, letting the world know Georgia has a lot of exciting traditions, opportunities, and talented people, beyond its delicious food, beautiful nature, or dance.
We have a wonderful news for our fans, as we will play an official test match in Bordeaux on November 14th. This match is doubly important for us, since we have a long-standing friendship and relationship with French Rugby. This opportunity will help further the development of Georgian Rugby. We are excited and thrilled to have it.
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