The recent appointment of Professor Alexandre Lymbabaje as the new Vice-Chancellor of the University of Rwanda (UR) was welcomed with optimism by the sports department. Many say sports at the university are almost non-existent since the merger of all public universities into one institution in 2013.

Lyambabaje replaced Prof. Phillip Cotton whose tenure came to an end in October 2020. The latter had served as UR’s Vice-Chancellor since 2015.

Rwanda’s former Minister of Commerce, Lyambabaje, is a big fan of sports – and volleyball in particular – having played for and coached the national team.

It was the very sport that earned him a scholarship to study in France where he earned his Doctorate and played as a professional in the European country.

The UR Huye Campus (formerly National University of Rwanda – NUR) had one of the strongest volleyball teams in the country prior to the 2013 restructuring. In fact, they were the national champions and their former captain Olivier Ntagengwa was the league’s MVP.

Prof. Alexandre Lyambabaje played for and coached the University of Rwanda (formerly National University of Rwanda) and the national volleyball team.

Another figure behind the team’s success was Fidele Nyirimana who played for the university between 2004 and 2006 before he was appointed to head coach role from 2007 to 2013.

But, it was not just volleyball. The university was known as the single biggest pool of talent in the country and regularly supplied players to the national teams in other disciplines such as karate and basketball.

Besides dominating the domestic volleyball scene, NUR – coached by Lyambabaje – claimed the fourth position at the 1997 Men’s African Club Championship in South Africa, a feat they would also repeat in 2001, in Egypt, and 2006 in Benin.

The university also participated in an inter-universities tournament held in China in 2001, which brought together twelve universities from across the globe.

NUR scooped the men’s volleyball gold medal at the 2008 African inter-universities competition held in Kampala, Uganda, while its students also won big in karate and basketball.

According to Nyirimana, whether the university’s sports perform well or poorly depends on the university administration and its priorities.

In 2001, the university started to grant scholarships to talented players in various disciplines to support them in their studies and sports development. Nyirimana was one of the scholarship winners, and went on to represent NUR as a volleyball player for four years.

During his time at the National University of Rwanda, its volleyball club was a team to beat for over a decade he spent there as a player and later a coach because its administration under former Rectors Prof. Emile Rwamasirabo and Prof. Chrysologue Karangwa had sports as one of their priority areas in the running of the university.

"The team was at the top because we were very motivated and we had a fighting spirit to keep the university at the top. We had the full support of the administration, and that’s really inspired us,” Nyirimana told Weekend Sport in an exclusive interview this week.

The policy of giving scholarship players was also introduced in other higher learning institutions like Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and Institut Supérieur d’Agriculture et d’Elevage (ISAE-Busogo) for their football clubs and Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) for its Volleyball, Handball teams.

Through the sports scholarship scheme, recruited players were guaranteed accommodation, monthly living allowances and tuition fees.

However, sports at the university started to struggle in 2008, a year after the arrival of Prof. Silas Lwakabamba who immediately scrapped scholarships for players. The university’s performance in different leagues and competitions waned season after season.

Despite the stopping of sports scholarships, the NUR volleyball team kept on fighting for its name and managed to win a few more trophies – including the 2010 and 2013 league titles – until all public universities would be merged in 2013.

The following year, the team was relegated to second division where it still plays today, something that infuriates former players including coach Nyirimana who blames it on the sports management department and top administration of the institution.

"It feels very sad when you see a team you enjoyed success and great memories with, struggle this much,” said Nyirimana, noting that, "Nonetheless, I have confidence Lyambabaje can revive it. He understands the value of sports, and the volleyball team’s legacy.”

Prof Lyambabaje was able to achieve a lot thanks to his glittering volleyball career and people in the industry hope he will bring the university back on the sports map in the country.

Amb. Valens Munyabagisha, President of the National Olympic Committee told this publication that having Lyambabaje as University of Rwanda’s Vice-Chancellor brings new hope for sports in universities.

"I am sure we are going to see the university competing at the level they used to years back. No one is happy about where it stands right now and there is no able person than Lyambabaje to fix what has gone wrong with sports management at University of Rwanda.”

Attracting sponsors

Lyambabaje takes office at a time when the University of Rwanda’s (Huye Campus) volleyball and football teams are competing in the second division leagues, while their basketball team is also struggling with life in the first division championship – dominated by local giants Patriots and Rwanda Energy Group.

In a recent interview, Lyambabaje said that his administration would focus on securing financial means and rebranding to rebuild sports at the country’s only public university.

"The resources can assist us in promoting sports, promoting Rwandan culture, and traditional sports. We will seek to strike partnerships with different corporate companies in an effort to revive sports [at University of Rwanda] and lift them back to where they used to be.”

Lyambabaje also vowed that they are going to reintroduce inter-university competitions among UR colleges, and other private universities, before taking the challenge to other learning institutions in the region.