Bosnia's women rugby pioneers target Olympic qualification
ZENICA, Bosnia (Reuters) -Erna Huseinovic fell in love with rugby after coaching young children at a local club in the central town of Zenica, the home of Bosnia's first women's rugby sevens team.
A speedy winger, Huseinovic is preparing with her teammates for their first international competition in Croatia in September.
"I found in rugby something that I did not find in other sports," said Huseinovic, a 25-year-old student at the Zenica faculty for sports.
"The goal of my team is to achieve success in regional competitions and qualify for the 2032 Olympic Games," she said.
Rugby has been played for 50 years in Zenica, and Celik, regular winners of rugby championships in the former Yugoslavia,established the first women's team last year after a previous attempt had failed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our goal is to form women's teams in several cities across Bosnia so they can compete in domestic and international competitions," said Mirza Oruc, a vice-president of Bosnia's rugby association and coach of the national women's team.
"We want to compete in rugby sevens and qualify for the Brisbane Olympic Games," Oruc told Reuters, adding that sevens was a version of rugby helping to break stereotypes about the tough sport being exclusively for men.
Sara Hadzic, 25, heard about rugby at Zenica university, where she studies German language and literature.
"I wanted to try something new and different, to meet new girlfriends," said Hadzic, who did karate as a child. "I am playing now recreationally but I might go professional in the future."
The mothers of several children training at the Celik club decided to try out the sports themselves.
"Rugby is love, friendship, socializing, family," said Brankica Sekerovic. "I have come to the club as a supporter during tournaments and met some wonderful mums ... and then came a love for rugby."
(Reporting by Amel Emric and Daria Sito-Sucic, editing by Ed Osmond)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
6 minutes ago
- The Star
Fencing-Russian Egorian wins gold at world championships as neutral athlete
(Reuters) -Russian Yana Egorian won gold in the women's sabre at the World Fencing Championships in Georgia on Sunday, where she was competing as a neutral athlete. Egorian, a gold medallist in both the individual and team sabre events at the Rio Olympics, claimed a 15-11 victory over Poland's Zuzanna Cieslar in the final in Tbilisi. Russian Kirill Borodachev won silver in the men's individual foil earlier in the competition, also as a neutral athlete. "I'm very happy. Today was very difficult, especially when I fenced with Lisa Pusztai (round of 64)," Egorian said. "I spoke with my coach, and he understood what I didn't do right, and after that I fenced better. Now I want to win the (next) Olympic Games." The decision by the sport's global governing body (FIE) to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals at the event sparked a backlash from Ukraine's fencing federation, which said it was considering legal action over the inclusion of athletes with Russian military ranks. More than 440 fencers from 40 countries signed an open letter urging the FIE to reinstate rigorous background checks on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing under neutral status. The FIE has said its decision "underscores the Federation's commitment to peace, fairness, and the global unity of sport". (Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
New Straits Times
6 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
American Smith fastest in 100 backstroke heats, Ledecky dominates 1,500
LONDON: World record holder Regan Smith was fastest in the women's 100 metres backstroke preliminaries at the world championships in Singapore on Monday as the American laid down an early marker in her upcoming battle with Australia's Kaylee McKeown. The pair have built up quite the rivalry, with McKeown completing a triumphant defence of her Olympic 100 and 200 backstroke titles when the two faced off in Paris last year, with Smith having to settle for silver in both events. Smith came into the world championships as the top seed in the event ahead of five-times Olympic gold medallist McKeown and posted a time 58.20 on the second day of competition at the Singapore Sports Hub. American Katharine Berkoff was second quickest with 58.55, while 2023 world champion McKeown's time of 58.57 put her in third heading into the semis later on Monday. In the men's event, world record holder and Olympic champion Thomas Ceccon was given a scare as he only squeaked into the semi-finals with the 13th-fastest time in the heats. Frenchman Yohann Ndoye-Brouard was fastest, touching the wall in a personal best 52.30, with Russian Kliment Kolesnikov, competing as a neutral athlete, second quickest with 52.57. Italian Ceccon's time was 1.35 adrift of Ndoye-Brouard's mark. American great Katie Ledecky put the disappointment of missing out on the 400 freestyle title on Sunday behind her with a strong swim in her signature event – the lung-bursting 1,500 freestyle. The 28-year-old, who is the world record holder and has won five world titles in the event, posted a time of 15:36.68, which was more than 10 seconds quicker than Australia's Lani Pallister, the winner of the second heat. Ireland's Mona McSharry posted 1:05.99 to go through fastest in the women's 100 breaststroke heats, nearly half a second ahead of defending champion Tang Qianting of China, who was seventh quickest (1:06.45). World record holder Lilly King was well off the pace but scraped through in 15th almost a second down on McSharry's time. There were few surprises in the men's 200 freestyle as Olympic champion David Popovici of Romania turned up the heat in the final 50 to put down a time of 1:45.43. American Luke Hobson qualified second fastest in 1:45.61 but China's Pan Zhanle failed to progress, the 100 freestyle Olympic champion and world record holder trailing in 22nd in the heats. "I'm not sure what happened, and I'm not happy with this time," Pan said. "But it won't affect my upcoming races. The 200m and 100m are two different events." In the evening programme, all eyes will once again be on Canadian powerhouse Summer McIntosh as she goes for her second gold of the meet in the women's 200 individual medley, while China's 12-year-old swimming sensation Yu Zidi is also in action.--REUTERS
New Straits Times
36 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Bronze played with fractured tibia to help England win Euros
LONDON: England defender Lucy Bronze revealed after Sunday's Euro 2025 final victory over Spain that she had played the entire tournament with a fractured tibia. In the quarter-final against Sweden, the 33-year-old scored a goal before firing home the winning penalty in the shootout. "I have actually played the whole tournament with a fractured tibia, and then I have hurt my knee on my other leg," Bronze said on Sunday after helping the Lionesses to edge Spain 3-1 on penalties after the final ended 1-1 following extra time. "That's why I got a lot of praise from the girls after the Sweden game, as I've been in a lot of pain. If that's what it takes to play for England, that's what I'll do." The Chelsea defender admitted the tournament in Switzerland had been one of the most demanding of her career. "I do not think we ever stopped believing in ourselves. There was a lot of noise from the outside, but we stayed united and gave everything," Bronze said. "To win it on penalties shows just how inspiring this team is to be part of. "Today we showed resilience. We have shown everyone that you should always believe in yourself, no matter what others say."--REUTERS
