Rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
in
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...
is a minor but growing sport.
History
Soviet Period
Rugby union was played in
the Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...
as early as in 1908. In 1934 the Moscow Championship was started, and in 1936 the first
Soviet Championship took place.
In 1949, rugby union was forbidden in the USSR during the "fight against the
cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings are members of a single community. Its adherents are known as cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. Cosmopolitanism is both prescriptive and aspirational, believing humans can and should be " world citizens ...
". The competitions were resumed in 1957, and the Soviet Championship in 1966. In 1975 the
Soviet national team played their first match.
Rugby union in Russia and USSR
Post-independence
Kyrgyz rugby, like that of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
is mainly confined to the military and universities, although there is a schools programme underway.[http://wesclark.com/rrr/islamic_rugby.html "Islam and Rugby" on the ''Rugby Readers review'' retrieved 2 July 2009] Kazakhstan has been a major impetus for rugby growth in the region (Almaty
Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...
had a team in the Soviet league, and they also have a formidable women's team), and has been a major factor in keeping the game going in its neighbouring countries. For years, most of Kyrgyzstan's games, formal, or informal were against Kazakhstan, or Kazakh teams.[
The Union has formed a Rugby Academy in ]Bishkek
Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...
, Kyrgyzstan, in order to improve the game, as well as forming a schools program.[ However, the government is reluctant to fund the sport, as it is not currently recognised by the Olympics.][
Currently they take part in the Central Asian region of the ]Asian Five Nations
The Asia Rugby Championship, or ARC, is an annual rugby union competition held amongst national rugby sides within the Asia Rugby region. The competition was originally known as the Asian Rugby Football Tournament when founded in 1969, and was call ...
.
See also
* Kyrgyzstan national rugby union team
References
External links
IRB Kyrgyzstan page
Rugby in Asia, Kyrgyzstan page
Asian Rugby Football Union
Sport in Kyrgyzstan
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