Jordan Rugby

The Jordan Rugby Committee is a non-profit organisation, funded by the Jordan Olympic Committee, with the sole responsibility of developing the sport of rugby in Jordan. Their main focus is on raising the profile of Jordan Rugby by implementing the following objectives:

• Improving the National Team so they can perform better in international tournaments
• Design strategies so they can attract more players to the game at competitive levels
• Developing their youth programmes to ensure future participation at competitive levels
• Enable more participation for all genders or physical abilities
• Create viable career options for the players that were involved since the early days of development
• Meeting the requirements set out by Asia Rugby to attain Full Membership Status of the Asia Rugby Board.
• Qualifying Jordan for international events curated by World Rugby
• Establish Jordan as an attractive choice for hosting international competitions^[1]

Rugby Clubs in Jordan

• Amman Citadel Rugby Club
• Nomads Rugby Club
• Amman Saracens Rugby Club
• Aqaba Sharks Rugby Club

Brief about Jordan Rugby Clubs

Year on year, as the number of players increase, more teams are organised to compete in various tournaments.

Through developing five teams to compete in the Domestic 15's League, the Jordan Rugby Committee have made 2016 a year to remember, as they fulfill Asia Rugby's criteria for Full Membership Status.

Nomads, Citadel and Aqaba Sharks were the first teams to compete in domestic competitions since 2012. This season the League welcomes two new teams to the competition, including Amman Saracens and Citadel Warriors.

The 2016 Domestic 7's League will commence in July with a potential of nine teams participating and there's a possibility that more teams form as a result of more players joining the sport.^[2]

Jordan Rugby National Team

The National Team was officially formed back in 2008, appointing Raymond "Duaine" Lindsay as their Head Coach and a few coaching staff from Scotland.

For the first couple of years, Jordan would play some friendlies here and there, including a few games against Bahrain, until 2010, were they played their first competitive match against Lebanon. Even though they had lost that match by a thin margin, Coach Duaine and his team moved on from that defeat to go on and win the Asian 5 Nations Division IV in 2011, beating Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. This was quite a remarkable achievement to say the least, a relatively new team, with only a couple of competitive matches under their belt. Since then it has been a bumpy ride, with the team struggling financially and the players struggling with balancing their commitments between work and playing the sport.

Jordan's Captain from 2010 to 2012 was Saleh Fleifel, preceded by Zaid Arabiat in 2013 and then by Mohammed AlMajed in 2015. This year Coach Koki takes over the reigns with a new approach. His team is young, determined and ready for the new challenges ahead. Jordan will be hosting the West Asia Championships in late April, were they will compete against Saudi Arabia and UAE Shaheen for the title.^[3]

Jordan Rugby Youth development

Get Into Rugby

Get Into Rugby was curated by World Rugby as a way of introducing the game to the general public. The programme focuses on non contact rugby or tag rugby, where the players just need to make contact with the belt instead of tackling the opponent to the ground. Other than that the basic principles of the game are the same. In Jordan, this programme has been adopted by 10 schools across Amman, who all take part in an annual tournament divided into grades of ability. The tournament is then celebrated with a Get Into Rugby Festival Finale where all the school teams compete for a trophy to commemorate a successful campaign. Jordan Rugby has a vision to expand participation into this programme through the Universities.^[4][5]

The Rugby Academy of Jordan

The Rugby Academy of Jordan is a programme dedicated to fine tuning skill sets for youngsters aspiring to play rugby at a more competitive level. The Academy runs sessions on Friday mornings for the 13 - 17 age group and encourages both boys and girls to participate^[6]

Amman Camels

Amman Camels is a youth programme that focuses on non-contact rugby for boys and girls aged between 4 – 11 years old to get the kids involved in the game.. The sessions are held at the British Club, usually on Friday mornings.^[7][8]

Useful links

Jordan Rugby Website

References