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The Ghana Rugby Family concluded its 2014 Ghana Rugby Stakeholder Forum under the theme of �From Eaglets to Eagles� successfully at the Accra Sports Stadium on Friday 29 August 2014. According to the President, Mr. Herbert Mensah, it was indeed a historical event in more than one way. He continued to say, �Not only was it the first time ever that all Rugby Stakeholders were involved in the process of drafting a Blueprint or Roadmap for Ghana Rugby, it was also the very first time that coaches were presented with IRB (International Rugby Board) Level 1 Coaching certificates for both 15s and 7s coaching.� The Ghana Rugby Stakeholder Forum 2014 (GRSF 2014) was called after approximately three months of intensive assessment of the state of Ghana Rugby that included numerous meetings with Associations, Clubs, Sponsors, Players and many others who desperately wants to see Ghana Rugby soar to the heights it is destined to soar. The GRSF 2014, attended by more than 50 stakeholders, allowed for constructive discussion and collaboration and included presentations by various stakeholders with ample time for questions and answers. In line with the values of Rugby, the Master of Ceremonies (MC), Mr. Ernest Affloe who is also a Board member, ordered the Forum to start on time despite the fact that there were only a few delegates who arrived on time and despite the fact there was no power at the time. Mr. Mensah opened the GRSF 2014 by welcoming all delegates and stressing the fact that Rugby in Ghana is not for the Ghana Rugby Football Union Board, but for the Rugby family in Ghana and abroad that include a wide spectrum of stakeholders ranging from players, schools, clubs, associations, coaches, referees, administrators, government bodies, supporters and fans as well as the sponsors and donors without whom there will be no growth in Ghana Rugby. The draft Blueprint was published on the Ghana Rugby website - http://ghanarugby.org/forum/ - for comments to everyone, and is still open for comments. Mr. Ernest Hanson, Vice President of the GRFU Board, summed up the essence of the Blueprint that broadly consists of three sections namely the current state of Ghana Rugby, the preferred state of Ghana Rugby and guidelines for action to achieve the preferred state. He emphasised that the Ghana Rugby Family faces many challenges and that the next 12 to 18 months will ask for many more sacrifices and patience. �Enormous efforts are required on the fronts of governance and structure, building technical capacities in terms of both coaching and officiating, implementing the development framework that stretches from junior 6 year old level to senior national team level for men, women, boys and girls across the various forms such as �Get Into Rugby�, Tag or Touch Rugby, 7s, 10s and 15s,� Mr. Hanson said. He continued to say that the establishment of regular tournaments for junior and senior level players as well as for Ghana�s National teams, the Eagles and Eaglets, are essential. Mr. Hanson concluded his presentation by reminding the Forum that the new Ghana Rugby Board started their administration with about GHS 240. Funding of Rugby is therefore the key priority of not only the Board, but indeed of everybody involved in Rugby. Next on the agenda were presentations by the Greater Accra Rugby Association and Clubs (Mr. Abdul-Aziz Issah) as well as the CentWest Associations and Clubs (Mr. Bismark Amponsah). The messages from the Associations and Clubs addressed various issues that should be high on their own management agenda including: funding; vision, goals and strategy with action plans; one-man dictatorial management of clubs; indiscipline on and off the field; access to proper equipment, and a suitable hub or home for Ghana Rugby. Mr. Michael Ako Wilson, President of the Ghana Rugby Players Association (GRUPA), stated the case of the Ghanaian Rugby Player. Touching on the past Mr. Wilson highlighted stumbling blocks that players faced including medical insurance, player registration and records, rugged playing pitches, inadequate competitions, poor camping conditions, unfair wages and treatment, ineffective coaching, awful travelling conditions and non-existent player remuneration. Mr. Wilson continued to say, �We as players simply ask for a vibrant media and PR agenda, a proper blueprint, feasible projects, laudable policies, strong Rugby Family relationships and involvement in overall management.� The President of GRUPA concluded that they fully support the direction and journey that the New GRFU Board has embarked on and pledged their full support. Mr. Emmanuel Linford Bamfi was then given the opportunity to present how he sees the development of Rugby in Zone 4 (Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions), a Zone that has seen no development to date. According to Mr. Bamfi the focus will be on getting the basics right and on quality rather than quantity. �We should not be rushing the development but rather make sure that establish a manageable and sustainable programme starting at grassroots level with the selection of a few willing schools in each Region that can also take part in meaningful and sustainable tournaments. Senior rugby will flow logically from this if we can do it right,� Mr. Bamfi said. He also warned Zones 1 (Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta Regions) and 2 (Central and Western Regions) that they must be scared because Zone 4 has a vision to win the Ghana Local League in the foreseeable future. Next on the agenda was a presentation by Mr. Sydney Yankson in charge of financing and sponsorship for the GRFU Board about the issue of funding and sponsorships - an issue that was mentioned by all parties as probably the biggest priority and challenge of Ghana Rugby. Mr. Yankson took delegates through aspects such as Brand Exposure, Event activation, Consumer Engagement, Supporter database, Interactive Social Media and Potential Target Sponsors. He said that if every person involved in Ghana Rugby sets a goal of just asking one potential sponsor every month the following question, �Would you like to support Ghana Rugby?� , and feeding that contact through to the Board for assistance and guidance on developing the relationship, Ghana Rugby will see a dramatic change in its fortunes. Mr. Yankson also stressed the importance of the image of Ghana Rugby and said that we have to root out indiscipline, bad management and washing dirty linen in the public. Even though invited to say how they can assist Ghana Rugby, no official from either the National Sports Association (NSA) or the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) responded to the invitation or attended the Forum. Mr. Herbert Mensah concluded the Forum by thanking all present and not present who took part in the process of formulating the draft Blueprint for their contributions. He also thanked them for their passion and years of selfless sacrifices to help Ghana Rugby. �When I visited the IRB (International Rugby Board) soon after the June election of the new Board it was made abundantly clear that after eleven years Ghana Rugby is not ready to become a full member of the IRB. The positive message from the IRB, however, was that Ghana Rugby just have to get a few basic aspects in place to qualify.�, Mr. Mensah said. Mr. Mensah stressed that new policies and procedures in line with the IRB policies and procedures guidelines will be issued and that it is not his or the Board�s dictates, but global requirements. Mr. Mensah said that the next steps will be to assimilate all inputs to the draft Blueprint and to transform the Blueprint into succinct communiques for various stakeholders. �The most important aspects is that we have now come to the point where blueprint must transform to action. Many project teams - committees don�t work - will be formed and it will be for the project team leaders to grab the proverbial bull by the horns and with their chosen project team members turn dreams into reality,� Mr. Mensah said.