When Sudamérica Rugby incorporated the Federación Boliviana de Rugby into its organisation at their AGM earlier this month, the 700 or so players in the country celebrated.

With 14 clubs, 39 teams - male and female plus youth and junior rugby - becoming an associate union of SAR will help those numbers grow and also give Bolivia a presence in regional international competitions in the years to come.

As such, Bolivia will make its international debut, at an officially recognised competition, from 27-29 May, when the multi-sports Juegos Sudamericanos (South American Games) comes to the country, in Cochabamba.

“We’ve been looking forward to this for some time, playing international rugby and giving our players an international pathway,” says Gonzalo Mancilla Calvimonte (pictured on the left of the inset picture with the beard), President of the Bolivian Rugby Federation.

“We were already well supported without being members but now we have more responsibility in generating coaches and educators, through official courses.”

Access to funding

The affiliation will help rugby access funding as it slowly gains more of a profile; each weekend rugby activities take place in the six cities that boast club teams.

“At the moment, we are receiving minimum funding from the Bolivian Olympic Committee for our preparation for the South American Games and have finished documentation for the Sports Ministry; we have the help of a handful of sponsors and support from the players,” says Calvimonte, who took up his present role in 2015.

“If we make noise, we’ll be able to ask for more from companies.”

A new national competition started this year with teams divided into two pools and a final set for the last week of October.

“It is very hard to go from one city to the other (due to the mountainous terrain) so we had to regionalise the first stage,” Calvimonte explained. “Cochabamba plays with La Paz (some 400 kilometres on a highway), Santa Cruz de la Sierra has four clubs, so they play amongst themselves while Tarija and Yacuiba (the hometown club he set up in 2011) play each other.

Sevens

There is also a regular calendar of sevens tournaments - for men and women - from which the two national teams that will debut at the Estadio Colcapiruha are drawn.

The first female Bolivian national captain is Romina Montellano Ibarra, a 25-year-old scrum-half from Tarija, who came to rugby “through a friend and never left.”

“I was a ballet dancer and even if both activities seem very different, both require top fitness, dedication and time. My ballet background came in handy for rugby,” she says.

“What I like the most about rugby are its values - we are always trying to identify ourselves with the sport and the club as a family, way beyond what happens on a rugby field. You create very strong friendships.”

"Goosebumps"

Although it is still a little-known sport in Bolivia, there is a pathway to a brighter future – through the education system. Being in the Juegos Sudamericanos will also help.

“I get goosebumps just thinking about it. What we are living is thanks to our hard work and commitment and the support of the Federation,” said Ibarra.

“I hope the Games will generate interest in rugby; it is the first time we have a national Bolivian team which should be of huge pride for the whole country.”

There are many examples globally where rugby has been a positive catalyst for change, and Ibarra hopes that is the case with Bolivia.

“We need a united Bolivia, one that is willing to grow. And rugby is a weapon for this.”

Values

Marcos Labezzo is the new men’s national team captain. Although he was born in Colombia, he learnt his rugby in Santa Cruz de la Sierra where his father founded one of the city’s clubs.

“Rugby is growing, but we need to work hard in promoting it. Having the Games and rugby being an Olympic sport certainly helps,” said the 31-year old engineer.

“Playing in Cochabamba will make youngsters see the beauty of the sport. We’ve had workshops and Get Into Rugby activities and we must continue promoting the values of the game.”

With regards to sporting goals, Labezzo says that “even if winning is always the main goal, it is crucial to do things right.”

Growing the game

Calvimonte’s first association with rugby came in his home-town, a border city with Argentina, aged 14, and his love for the sport has only grown over time. “We played for about four months until the only rugby ball we had went flat. That was the end of our new sport!”

Thankfully, it was not terminal, Calvimonte had been bitten by the rugby bug and he now works tirelessly to try and encourage others to participate.

“There is a lot of work to be done; we are organising ourselves as a federation, with more people involved. We have a national meeting in Cochabamba prior to the Games and we will work on what needs to be done. We suddenly have more requirements and needs so we need more volunteers.

 “We have already planned our competitions for 2018 and 2019 and I know we will have more players and more tournaments which will underpin this growth.”