After some years of being dormant, the Imbonggu Rugby League (IRL) competition at Kero village in the Imbonggu District of Southern Highlands Province has made its return in the 2024 season. Coincidentally, the IRL was first established in Kero village, so it wasn’t a mistake to revive the code at the spiritual home of rugby league in Imbonggu District.
Previously, the competition was called Imbonggu Rugby league. However, following the resurrection of the competition some decades later, it has now changed its name to United Imbonggu Rugby League (UIRL).
Essentially, the change of the competition’s name came about because of one purpose - ‘Unity’. The organising committee wanted to unite the community through the sport of rugby league, hence the United Imbonggu Rugby League.
“Basically, I initiated the revival of the United Imbonggu Rugby League competition. The aim was to unite the whole community, that’s why we renamed the competition to UIRL,” Treasure Kelvin Kepo said.
The UIRL competition hasn’t been registered yet, but those who are spearheading the competition have plans to register the competition and affiliate it with the PNG Rugby Football League (PNGRFL) in the future.
“We haven’t registered the UIRL competition yet. We came up with this initiative to keep the youths engaged, but we are hoping to register it with the PNGRFL next year and run a sanctioned competition,” Kepo said.
Seeing the untapped potential of the boys who are indulging themselves with bad substances like marijuana, alcohol, drug, home-brew, stealing, and other criminal activities has compelled Kepo to do something to help those young men.
Kepo was part of the committee who initiated the Gordons Youth Association (GYA) in Port Moresby to curb the prevalent law-and-order issues, especially in terms of pickpocketing, bag snatching, and other petty crimes.
Having the first-hand experience to deal with the youths, Kepo mobilised the local boys in the village and started the UIRL competition.There was no proper field to host the games, so he quickly engaged the boys to cut the thick grass, clear the area and utilised the makeshift oval to host the games.
The revived UIRL competition successfully completed its 11 rounds of the regular season two weeks ago and held the first week of the finals in Kero village. Third week of the finals will be staged this weekend and the grand final is likely to be hosted on December 15th.
A total of 22 men’s teams within the district are participating in this revamped competition. At the conclusion of the normal season, 12 teams have qualified to compete in the finals, while the other 12 teams have bowed out.
Since the UIRL competition has been revived this year, the organising committee decided to stick with the men’s teams only. If the competition makes progress next year and onwards, a junior division and women’s division will be introduced.
Imbonggu District has produced some of the best rugby league players in the country over the years, such as Dion Aiye, Thomas Undupia, and others, who went on to represent the PNG Kumuls on the international stage.
The stories of former Imbonggu legendary players like Aiye and Undupia will definitely inspire the current crop of Imbonggu rugby league talents to emulate in the footsteps of their seniors and make their own names.
Young Kelvin Kepo, along with his executives and other like-minded individuals of Kero village, have expressed their satisfaction of seeing the United Imbonggu Rugby League competition’s revival this year and look forward to completing the season on a high and peaceful note.
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