FQM Rugby 7's

This week Saturday Amano's 7s rugby team traveled all the way to Simba for this year's First Quantum 7's Tournament. We arrived pretty early to run some drills, went through the opening introductions and then our games began. We started our first game against the government schools' first place FQM winners Temweni and they were really physical and based most of their attack on going straight into contact; but even though they were bigger than us, we used our wingers to burn them out on the wing, which led us to win the first game 24-0. Our second game was against Masaiti, who were a lot less physical, but had a tendency to go for a lot of high tackles, but thankfully not a lot of the boys were injured and we managed to win that game 12-0. Our third game again was against another government school called Kansenshi, whom we had faced before [last year]. So we already knew their way of play and because of that we were able to take hold of the game without any troubles and win the game 29-0.

Daniel contributed well at scrum half - 1 try and 7 conversions

Mark winning another line out against Temweni

Then for our fourth game we went against fellow ISAZ school Simba, who we had played several times. Even though they were physical as usual, we had mastered their way of play and won that game 24-0. We then thought we were progressing into the final, yet in reality it was to the semi against Chengelo whom we were yet to beat in rugby. We began that game tired, we stumbled a couple of times and Chengelo almost capitalised on the mistakes, but during half time we had a strong and motivational talk from Mr Grove and went back into the second half strong and managed to win that game 12-0. For the finals we went against the reigning champ’s Trident, which seemed to have had a tougher morning than us. Even though we were an inexperienced team we had managed to get to the finals and this really motivated us most that we could win the cup. We started the game with our substitutes on because most of the main players were badly sore.

That was a bad idea as within opening minutes Trident came storming down the line in a violent action and scored the first try. They then scored a second one quickly before we went on to bring all the main players. The game settled down a bit, but not by much because Trident were used to playing a more furious rugby and the boys were not so they took advantage. They went in with everything they deemed usual against us and hurt us then when half time came Mr Grove gave us a heavy-duty motivational speech. Which sent us into the second half stronger than ever, our organisation and teamwork improved phenomenally. We then managed to score a try and conversion which got us back in the race, but after a fumble on the try line we were left to defend a scrum. We managed to win the scrum and had strong runners ready to burn out Trident, but then after one fumble from one of our players Trident hit us strong, we managed to hold but with one foul call from the ref the Trident team scored another try and won that game 17-6.

James on a foray through Chengelo

Fungai striving for his try against Chengelo

 This made us finish second overall. I believe personally that the boys gave it all they had and even though we had a crushing defeat they gave it their best. I personally would like to thank the whole team because this was for most players the first time being part of anything this physical and for them to come out second is phenomenal. I would also like to thank James, Paul, Mwansa, Musonda, Tarisai, Luyando, Daniel, Mark and Cholwe for been the best team I could ask for. Also not to forget Mr Grove for holding us strong and for the motivational speeches and most importantly God, for allowing a bunch of newbies to come from zero and come out second in our biggest school boy rugby tournament. This not only shocked me but also people around as we had the smallest and most inexperienced team but still came second.  

A hard fought and well deserved second place

Tournament Scores:
James McBride 30pts
Paul McBride 20pts
Musonda Mwansa 15pts
Mwansa Mwansa 12pts
Daniel Weiandt 12pts
Theo Kabwe 5pts
Fungai Chanda 5pts



Report by Fungai Chanda

U19 Girls ISAZ Qual

Friday 4th March, Amano under 19 girls travelled to Ndola trust school for ISAZ qualifiers football tournament. Yet again I had the privilege of being the girl’s captain. Our first game commenced against Chengelo around 14:30 and this was immediately after the game in netball against Chengelo. The team was not adequately prepared for the game. Hence Chengelo scored against us. Our defence was a little weak, despite this; we still kept our heads high, in the hope to beat our opponents. To our disappointment, the game ended in a 3-0 win to Chengelo.

After Chengelo, we played against Simba. Either Simba was less challenging or we were more challenging. We played the game so much better. Our defence was a lot stronger and we took the ball up a lot more. To our dismay, each time we got the opportunity to make a goal, we struck the ball in all different directions, but the goal. None of the two teams won that game. It was a 0-0 draw game.

Our third game was played against Mpelembe. The girls are known to have beaten us in our previous meets, and this time around we set the ball rolling. They scored one goal in the first half and so did we. The goal was scored by Diana. The second half was rough for both Amano and Mpelembe. Although I should make mention; that during the second half, Mpelembe did make shots that were threatening. Gladly, they never scored again. This game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Our next game was against Nsansa, and we started off in a low spirit, which made us less active. Later on during that first half we picked up our pace, and picked up the game quite impressively. We gave the game our best to play hard as a team, but each time we tried to score, we missed the goal. The game turned out to be a 1-0 win game to Nsansa.

Despite us not qualifying [to the nationals], we did not let this demoralise our spirits, we kept up the ability to pursue our goals and we persevered with every effort. Hence forth I would like to thank the girls for the effort and hard work they’ve put in as a team. With out their positive attitudes during the games we wouldn’t have played as well as we did.

Lastly I’d like to pass on my gratitude to the people that have been supporting us through out our games and Mr Grove for coaching us and always keeping us in high spirits through out the day; even though we did not perform as well as we could. He kept on encouraging us to keep up a positive attitude which boosted our moral. Most importantly, we give our thanks to our heavenly Father for making it possible for us to travel and participate in these games.


 Report by Bisa Bwalya.

Provincial Netball 2016

On Friday 5th March, Amano took the netball team to Ndola Trust School for the season’s qualifying games.

Our first game was against Nsansa School. It was the first school we played outside of our zone. It was more like a wake up game for our team. We had sharp and flat passes, exactly what we needed to win the game. We also had some successful centre passes and we won that game 9-4.

Our second game was against Chengelo. Our netball team has a certain mentality that Chengelo cannot be defeated. Breaking through the barrier is tough, but the team does have the ability to beat the Chengelo team. On the bright side, we had a good attack, better than our first game. We eventually lost the game 14-5.

Amano v Chengelo pool game

Our third game was our qualifying game, against Kalulushi. It was a team we have played many times in the past, this season. We had a good defencive strategy, but a weak attack which did not favour us as much. Kalulushi had cleaned up their act as they were less vicious and rough. It was a neck to neck game with Kathleen scoring and their shooter scoring. Kathleen, the Amano shooter, scored just before the final whistle blew and we won that game 8-7! It was a really close game and we pushed through till the end of it! We qualified for the national tournament and now we were going for the Regional Trophy!

Amano v Kalulushi pool game

Our semi-final game was against Mpelembe, a team we have played in the past. They didn’t seem to have lost any games in their pool. We were really determined to win that game. We coordinated well and played well too. We were spaced out, and we had some good, flat passes. We managed to get ahead in the first half of the game, which was to our advantage. We didn’t let them catch up to us, and we eventually won that game 13-4.

We made it to the finals! It was a team we weren’t so enthusiastic to play against, Chengelo girls. We were now fighting for the trophy, for first place and we weren’t going down without a fight! It was a very challenging game for us, playing them twice. We put up a fight until the end of the game, but didn’t back down at all! We were close, but we lost that game to Chengelo girls.

Amano v Chengelo Finals

Overall we came out 2nd place with six points. I was so proud of the girls, the effort that they put into the games they played and the teamwork that it showed. I’m a proud captain because I saw a lot of the determination and plenty of effort and sportsmanship too. We have grown closer as a team and I hope that we will continue doing so in the future.  I would like to thank Mr. Grove for all the moral support he gave us and being there for us in substitution for Mrs. Grove. Also for a coach like Mrs. Grove and all the training she gave us, without the ability to play we wouldn’t have managed to succeed. Most importantly I’d like to thank God for giving us the ability to play, for keeping us safe from serious injures and giving us the opportunity to go out and showcase our talents to world for his glory!

Reported by: Janki Desai (netball captain)