Homeboyz RFC get Sh10m boost ahead of season kick-off

Menengai oil sponsors Homeboys RUGBY TEAM from right holding the cheque Managing Director Menengai oil Onkar Rai,CEO Homeboyz Myke Rabar and Homeboyz headcoach rugby team with homeboyz queens hold a 10 million shilling cheque sponsored by Menegai oil for a 2year sponsorship agreement to the rugby club ON 28TH JULY2015.PHOTO DAVID GICHURU

Homeboyz Rugby Club yesterday received a Sh10 million sponsorship boost from Menengai Oil Refineries Ltd ahead of the new Kenya Cup season.

The two-year deal, initiated through the Menengai Cream Laundry Bar Soap brand, will see Homeboyz RC change its name to Menengai Cream Homeboyz RC.

The sponsorship will see the new-look Menengai Cream Homeboyz RC move to a new home ground at the Jamhuri Agricultural Showground along Nairobi’s Ngong Road.

The new partnership makes the club the first local rugby club to own a sponsored radio show - The Rugby Rundown - which will give local and international rugby updates every weekend on Homeboyz Radio 103.5. The club will also acquire new playing kit.

“We have already named our new home ground ‘The Basin’.

This  place is going to be our new training ground, besides the venue for our home matches,” said Homeboyz RC head coach Paul Murunga.

“We want to create a new experience for both players and rugby fans. With the capability to hold floodlit tournaments and entertainments filled home games, ‘The Basin’ will become a must-go venue during rugby games.”

“But it is more than just a whole new look. Our game will be decided differently this season. We have several elements in our play strategy, so fans should expect a more tactical approach to our ball possession,” Murunga explained.

Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) chairman Richard Omwela in a statement said the sponsorship was a landmark partnership that will breathe a new lease of life into local rugby.

“It is our wish that more local companies can take a look and realise the overwhelming opportunities the sport of rugby offers and seriously invest and partner with us,” Omwela said.

Menengai Oil Refineries Ltd Managing Director Onkar Rai noted: “We saw Homeboyz Rugby Club as having the same vision as Menengai Group and it’s the reason we came on board.”

Homeboyz CEO Myke Rabar noted: “We approached this sponsorship with a view to demonstrating how a sports team can be used as a marketing, entertainment and corporate social responsibility vehicle encompassing consumer and rugby fan experience.”