Good Values in Good Hands

The Bahrain Rugby Football Club’s annual DHL Memorial Day Match Cup reminds us of the core values rugby teaches and why they are in good hands.

For ten years now, DHL and the Bahrain Rugby Football Club (BRFC) has been coming together to commemorate three DHL employees who tragically lost their lives in Kabul. And while the memory of their fallen friends remains at the center of the event a decade later, the annual DHL Memorial Day Match Cup is also about celebrating the values DHL shares with the sport of rugby and raising money for charity.

Rugby remembers
In 2008, DHL employees Jason Bresler, David Giles and Mohammed Shafiq were tragically killed on the job in Afghanistan. To remember and celebrate their lives, DHL and Bahrain Rugby Football Club launched a memorial match that is now an annual event. DHL has sponsored BRFC for decades.

“Primarily we’re here for the annual DHL Memorial Match Cup game, which initially started off 10 years ago in memory of some of our brothers who fell in Afghanistan,” said Phil Armitage, Country Manager, DHL Express Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Match Cup is now an all-day event that brings some 1,000 people together. Employees and club members along with their families and friends gather at the BRFC’s main grass pitch to celebrate life and the game they love. The fun-filled festival features youth and adult rugby matches, fund raisers, and lots of fellowship.

The Match Cup is now an all-day event that brings some 1,000 people together.

A friendly fixture
The proceedings kick off with a series of youth matches. This year some 400 children took part as family and friends looked on and cheered.

The games are played in the spirit of cooperation and team play – two of the game’s most important lessons.

"Those are the lessons and values that they will take through life."

Mike Cunningham, Chairman Bahrain RFC

The day’s main event is an evening match between the DHL Barbarians – a team made up of DHL employees – and the BRFC senior team – the same squad that was recently crowned the West Asia Cup Champions.

Here again the focus of this friendly fixture is on having fun. Although it was ultimately BRFC who raised the cup under the floodlights, the smiles on everyone’s faces reminded us all that there are no losers at the DHL Memorial Match Cup.

Good values, good hands
Anyone who plays rugby knows the value the game instills in its players. Teamwork, effort, fair play and more were alive and well at the DHL Memorial Match Cup. These are common values DHL shares with the club and the sport of rugby – and they’re one of the reasons the company and club have been true partners for so long.

“They’ve been a great pair of hands to us.”

Mike Cunningham, Chairman Bahrain RFC

“Bahrain Rugby Club couldn’t have achieved what we’ve achieved these last 30-40 years without the support we’ve had from sponsors like DHL,” said Mike Cunningham, Chairman of the Bahrain RFC. “DHL have been fantastic to us. They’ve been a great pair of hands to us.”

BRFC are truly a grassroots club committed to the future of rugby – to growing the game in Bahrain.

“We’re trying not just to look at short-term success, but at the longevity of the game in Bahrain and trying to get more people to playing the game to keep us successful as well,” said Louie Tonkin, Director of Rugby Bahrain RFC.

“We’re trying not just to look at short-term success,
but at the longevity of the game in Bahrain.”

Louie Tonkin, Director of Rugby Bahrain RFC

The club has a huge junior section – a fact that is readily apparent at the DHL Memorial Match Cup. The club understands that they are the future.

“These kids are the future of rugby,” says Cunningham. “It’s a great game and these kids learn a lot from what they learn on this pitch about teamwork and effort, cooperation, supporting each other. Those are the lessons and values that they will take through life.”

Find out more about why rugby is in good hands in Bahrain by visiting the Bahrain Rugby Football Club’s website here.