War-torn South Sudan launches youth rugby league for peace

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In this photo taken Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018, a girl prepares to catch the ball during the South Sudan Rugby Club\'s weekly practice in Juba, South Sudan. The country this year launched its first rugby league since independence, finding in the rough-and tumble sport a way to promote peace, with more than 200 children having signed up for practices run by volunteers, many of whom learned to play as refugees. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick)

JUBA, South Sudan – Civil war-torn South Sudan has launched its first rugby league since independence, finding in the rough-and-tumble sport a way to promote peace.

More than 200 children between 5 and 13 have signed up for the South Sudan Rugby Club’s weekly practices run by volunteers, many of whom learned to play as refugees in neighbouring countries. More than 50 who have enrolled are girls.

The club is an inclusive alternative to the more popular but often overcrowded soccer, where young people are sometimes turned away. The rugby league also teaches life lessons such as how to communicate without fighting.

The league’s founders are looking for sponsors and hope that rugby will become a national sport so it can benefit from state funding.

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Abbey Westbury

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