In a surprising turn of events, Homeboyz Rugby have withdrawn from the 2022-2023 Kenya Cup season.
Club chairman Mike Rabar said following a rugby board meeting held on Tuesday, the club will now concentrate on development at the grassroots.
“We no longer wish to partake in the 2022-2023 Kenya Cup season. The board believes that we could make more impact in the game of rugby by investing at the developmental stage," he said.
Rabar added: “We shall hereby extend our focus to supporting our rugby academy and growth of the game at the grassroots where we believe support is much needed. We shall return to the premiership rugby next season,” added Rabar.
He cited tournaments like the Prescott Cup which they want to focus on next season.
This is the second time in three years the deejays have withdrawn from the top tier the first time coming in the 2020-2021 season after the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged the season and Rabar added that the union had not done enough in terms of testing players and providing the right protocols for the players and teams to return to playing.
The club finished eighth last season with 19 points from four wins and seven losses. The chairman observed the players will now be loaned out to other clubs for the start of the season once the transfer window is opened.
“We will loan our players to the Kenya Cup clubs for the season and we know they will be in high demand because they are good players,” added Rabar.
He said the club will take part in the Sevens circuit next year. “The Sevens circuit is something we want to get involved with our limited resources,” he added.
Homeboyz have been one of the most competitive clubs in the rugby scene in the country since its inception in 2008.
They won the Sevens circuit in 2016 and 2018 and won the Enterprise Cup in the same year, beating Impala 21-3. They were losing finalists of the same competition in 2015, losing 28-0 to KCB.
