CAMELEON Rugby Girls Cup: Empowering girls through rugby

RugbyAsia247 reached out to CAMELEON to find out more about the recently announced new all girls-ladies rugby tournament which is taking place this April in the Philippines; the CAMELEON Rugby Girls Cup.

Please tell us a little more about the CAMELEON Rugby Girls Cup and what the aims are?

The goal of the tournament is to promote the rights of children and we highlight the issues surrounding the sexual violence against children. We will promote the CAMELEON association to raise public awareness on this taboo subject in the Philippines and how we can all assist in the prevention of child sex abuse.

The registration is free, and all girls can participate from all levels but we have Under 12, 14, 16, 18 and open girls/women’s categories. Beginners are encouraged to attend too. We will have touch rugby suitable for all levels but also contact rugby for girls who want to play.

The tournament will take place in Passi City which is 1 hour by bus from Iloilo. Ideally, we want to play at the new sports complex in Passi City if it is finished, but if it isn’t we will organise the tournament to take place at the University of Iloilo CPU.

Why run an all-girls tournament? What is CAMELEON’s involvement in rugby?

(Credit: CAMELEON) Rugby development with PRFU

We use rugby as a means of therapy to help our girls rebuild themselves and overcome their trauma from abuse.

This new program was started in August 2018 is run in partnership with Philippine Football Rugby Union. We have 300 girls and it’s easier to organize a women’s tournament, and it’s important to give girls a place to feel comfortable to express themselves.

Earlier this year, two of the CAMELEON girls finished the first session of their training to become rugby coaches with the support of the Philippine Football Rugby Union, Get Into Rugby program, and Rugby Development in Negros.

Questions answered by Julien from CAMELEON who is their sports coordinator and a rugby coach. You can find out more about CAMELEON here.