The Hellenic Rugby Federation is inviting you to play rugby in Greece!

A new era has dawned in Rugby since it was announced as an Olympic Sport and it will be present at the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio. For this reason The Hellenic Rugby Federation, founded in November 2004, has started a campaign to promote the new sport all over Greece.

The promotion program includes introduction to the game and practice in public schools, private schools, gyms, stadiums and main city squares. On the 25th of October 2013 with the assistance of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, Aristotelous Square was covered with grass and four women teams, four men teams and 60 youth teams from the American School of Thessaloniki introduced rugby to hundreds of attendants. Since then a lot of cities have asked the Federation to be part in the program.

Our national Men’s Team has been successfully taking part in all European Tournaments since 2005.

Now, our National Women’s Team is being formed and will have a debut on the 1st Athens Women’s Sevens Cup 2014 which will take part in Haidari on the 22-23 of March 2014. Six women’s national teams will be competing for the love of their game in a pitch that has been provided by the Municipality of Haidari.

Anna McKaima (player of the National Women’s Team) :

“Rugby in Greece is the same as in every part of the world. It can be played either with 15 players or with 7. We train every week with rain, heat or snow. No matter where we are, we are counting the hours to get our hands on the ball again. In rugby we meet others who share the same passion with us and they share their thoughts to help us gradually understand the complicity of the game, the opponents and even our own team mates. We learn to listen to others and to listen to the referee who we respect. We play as a team and at the end we celebrate as a team no matter the result, because rugby is teaching us that you must rise after every fall, helping ourselves and helping others to achieve a common goal. When you start training, you love the sport and from then on it takes over your body, your mind and your thought! We have the opportunity to meet people who have the same love as we have and to share unique moments which only sports can give us. Rugby is an intense, physical game, full of emotions united under the oval ball which can be played all over the world and we have the opportunity and the blessing to participate in Greece. Be part of it, as a player, as a coach, as a referee or as a spectator”.