SANDAKAN: The 2024 Borneo Sevens Championship, held on March 9 and 10, was also the selection stage for Sabah’s young rugby team to represent the State in the Malaysian Games (Sukma).
According to the women’s rugby team coach, Brad Mika
(pic), a total of 24 players with potential and talents from all across Sabah participated in the selection this time.
He said intensive training was carried out for two weeks before the formal selection procedure, which would pick only 18 players to represent Sabah.
He explained that the participation of young Sukma players at the Borneo Sevens Championship provided them with exposure by allowing them to observe world rugby stars in action.
“They can learn a lot while also being motivated to play better,” he said after the competition on Sunday.
Brad, who began coaching the Sabah women’s rugby team in 2018, said he is currently in the process of rebuilding his team because there are some new players.
“In addition to intensive training sessions, the Sabah Sukma women’s rugby team will also participate in several competitions soon against local and foreign clubs,” he said.
He hopes the women’s rugby team will compete fiercely at the Sukma, which will be hosted in Sarawak this August.
For the record, the Sabah women’s rugby team won the gold medal at Sukma 2018 after defeating Selangor.
