Bosnia's women rugby pioneers target Olympic qualification

By Amel Emric

ZENICA, Bosnia (Reuters) -Erna Huseinovic fell in love with rugby after coaching young children at a local club in the central town of Zenica, the home of Bosnia's first women's rugby sevens team.

A speedy winger, Huseinovic is preparing with her teammates for their first international competition in Croatia in September.

"I found in rugby something that I did not find in other sports," said Huseinovic, a 25-year-old student at the Zenica faculty for sports.

"The goal of my team is to achieve success in regional competitions and qualify for the 2032 Olympic Games," she said.

Rugby has been played for 50 years in Zenica, and Celik, regular winners of rugby championships in the former Yugoslavia, established the first women's team last year after a previous attempt had failed during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"Our goal is to form women's teams in several cities across Bosnia so they can compete in domestic and international competitions," said Mirza Oruc, a vice-president of Bosnia's rugby association and coach of the national women's team.

"We want to compete in rugby sevens and qualify for the Brisbane Olympic Games," Oruc told Reuters, adding that sevens was a version of rugby helping to break stereotypes about the tough sport being exclusively for men.

Sara Hadzic, 25, heard about rugby at Zenica university, where she studies German language and literature.

"I wanted to try something new and different, to meet new girlfriends," said Hadzic, who did karate as a child. "I am playing now recreationally but I might go professional in the future."

The mothers of several children training at the Celik club decided to try out the sports themselves.

"Rugby is love, friendship, socializing, family," said Brankica Sekerovic. "I have come to the club as a supporter during tournaments and met some wonderful mums ... and then came a love for rugby."

(Reporting by Amel Emric and Daria Sito-Sucic, editing by Ed Osmond)