KOMANI-BASED rugby side, the Old Collegians RFC, will host the fifth edition of the HPJ Old Collegians 10s Tournament on Saturday at the Tobi Kula Indoor Sports Centre in Komani.
The event is a community development and social cohesion project, with the community of Komani divided into eight teams including Victoria Park, Aloevale, Mlungisi, Popcorn Valley, New Rest, Sabata/Newvale and the Town Suburbs.
The remaining spots in the tournament go to a Barbarians team, which will feature players originally from Komani and the surrounding areas who are now based in towns and cities all around South Africa, as well as three invitational teams.
“This year we have invited Aliwal North, Bloemfontein and East London. On the day of the tournament, the teams will be divided into two groups and will play a mini round-robin. The top two teams after the round-robin will advance to the semi-finals and then the final. Each match is only 14 minutes and the final is 20 minutes,” said tournament director, Maxwell Levine.
Last year, the tournament had two sporting codes in rugby and netball, but this year the organisers have expanded by including three extra sporting codes: boxing, table tennis and soccer. “This is a community initiative, not only to uplift our sporting people, but the local economy as well. We are expecting 650 players throughout the five sporting codes coming from as many as 22 cities and towns around the country.
“Our local entrepreneurs will benefit a lot from this event. We are also expecting a crowd of 3 000-5 000 people this year,” concluded Levine.
