It could be safe to say that the long-awaited traditional rugby festival, the Prince Edward School Festival, has died a slow and painful death.
After hope was gathered to the effect that the festival was to finally happen after the Covid-19 halt, a press statement from the head Dr Agrippa Sora circulated on Monday stating how the biggest schools rugby jamboree was not going to take place bringing the halt to close to half a decade.
Maybe the festival is all but done.
Dr Sora said, “It is with deep regret that we inform the nation and all rugby lovers that the PE rugby festival 2023 edition has been cancelled.
“We would like to apologise to all stakeholders for the stance taken but we promise to uphold the development of rugby in the country and promise to come back stronger and better come 2024 and beyond.”
The Promise
The promise “to come back stronger and better” in 2024 is kind of absurd really to most rugby enthusiasts as the wait has just been too long.
Some will argue that sport was halted by the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) during the Covid pandemic but then again it was during the same that Derby was birthed. It seems as if the trajectory under Dr Sora is somewhat regressive and here are the reasons why:
For supposed sponsors, (an old boy and a major soft drink firm), to have pulled out at the last minute from the most sought-after school rugby festival in the country shows gross incompetence.
First to pull out was Dairibord and maybe it would have been better to remain silent rather than give hope on the shame that has become this festival.
The other reason why there is regression is the general maintenance of the grounds. Right now the Jubilee rugby field has been overused with many cricket matches being played on that pitch.
The general argument would be cricket has always been played there but the extent to which it is being done is just a little overboard.
Right now there is the Stragglers Cricket Week going on at PE and one would see primary school children playing in the fields.
Even if the festival was to go ahead, would the pitches be in good shape? It would seem justified that St George’s and Peterhouse or any other school refuses to come and play PE at home because of the state of the grounds.
They get appalling sometimes.
Another thing is the camps at the school are just too many. The Netball team is camping there, Simba trains there and the national rugby teams also camped there.
It seems as if everything that the school stood for is just crumbling right under Dr Sora’s watch.
Even parents have not been impressed with what has been going on at the school and certainly changes ought to be seen sooner rather than later because the mess is just too much especially when it comes to rugby.
Implications to other schools
Imagine how this huge festival’s absence will further impact young players’ school careers. Cancellation of this year’s event means that certain players have gone from Form 1-4 without playing rugby.
Face it, most schools that play at the festival find it hard to fulfil weekly fixtures which means their only hope is the festival.
For PE and Churchill, they will not feel the heat because they will participate in the Derby Day and will fulfil their fixtures.
But for the tier 2 and 3 schools, their rugby season is shattered. Maybe another school like Kutama, Mutare Boys or St Ignatius would take responsibility and start yet another festival.
Also, maybe, this is a serious maybe, the NASH heads will take seriously the season fixtures and take rugby as seriously as they treat soccer.
There are quite a number of hypotheticals mentioned but it is hoped that sanity is brought back to Prince Edward or another school organised enough to host takes up the responsibility.
Maybe we will have Derby Day and a wishful Murehwa High Rugby Festival some year.
File picture credit: Prince Edward School Facebook
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