Mens Sierra Leone rugby team

"I had the pleasure of getting to know the Mens Sierra Leone rugby team over the course of 4.5 years. In the midst of physical battle, when fatigue and self-doubt strips away all inhibitions; there is nowhere to hide but to face your fear head-on. As their trainer, I got to witness their mental and moral qualities first hand. I watched their personalities grow. I watched them overcome adversities of monumental proportions - both on and off the pitch.

We used to train on the beaches of Sierra Leone, without shoes and shirts. Lot of the boys couldn't afford to rip the shirts they came to training with. They only had a handful of possessions. In a country ravaged with 10yr brutal civil war, these young men grew up in a crying country and broken systems, most in devastated families.

Rugby prides itself for its core values - Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship. These values are expected of every player at every level of the game. Getting the team to play aggressively was not the problem, channelling the aggression whilst instilling these values in a group of men who have seen atrocities committed against their near and dear ones was the biggest challenge.

Over the course of 4.5 years, we trained every single weekend on the beach, even though some of them didn’t have money to buy water, take public transport to go back home.

Rugby was not just another sport for them, rugby training was where they could express themselves, where they were accepted and where they were not judged. Young men who would stammer from nervousness at a job interview would be leading figures on the rugby field, young men who were disowned from their biological families found refuge in their rugby family. Rugby became more than sport.

Together we learnt the values of rugby - we began to understand the value of Teamwork, we respected each other for our success and failures, we started enjoying each other’s company and became friends, we learnt to play within the rules and we were fair. Our conduct and perseverance also attracted sponsors

In 2018, we played the first international game for over 30 years against Guinea. The boys travelled to Guinea and won 8-0! They won plaudits for their heroic effort and the way they represented Sierra Leone.

The journey each and every one of them undertook to overcome their destitute situation makes me consider them as my heroes.

Some of them now have jobs and young families and whilst their ageing bodies will one day forbid their ferocious mental tenacity and limit their ability on the pitch, the men they have become and friendships they formed will live with them forever.

It’s impossible to single out any one and so all of them, every single one of them, is my hero!"

Rohit Wadhwani