In Zimbabwe, female rugby team seeks to keep girls off the streets

Shingi Chigegede, a member of the Zimbiru Rugby Academy Club, an all-female rugby team, makes a try during a legue match against Old Georgians sports club in the capital Harare, in Zimbabwe, April 29, 2023. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

DOMBOSHAVA, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Bridget Magasu is the first to arrive for the training session, clutching a rugby ball while she waits for other members of her all-female rugby team to arrive.

Usually a sport reserved for the affluent suburbs of Zimbabwe's major cities, rugby is making inroads in the countryside, where it offers a release from the woes of poverty, early marriage and unemployment which have blighted the southern Africa country for decades.