As a young Frank Sackey grew up playing rugby in the Midlands, something did not feel quite right. He enjoyed playing the game, but did not feel at home in the sport that he enjoyed. Well, now he has helped create something that could change that for other young black players in the UK.

The Black Rugby Community Charity Launch happened last month, and it all stemmed from a group chat started 8 or 9 years ago.

“The group chat was for black guys who played rugby and were the only black guys on their team,” Sackey explains from his training camp in Accra, Ghana, where he is preparing to play for his country of heritage. 

“It was not a class thing, it’s not a middle class or working class thing, there are a lot of people who don’t integrate with the rugby community as it stands. We thought if we could get these people together who love rugby, you can be yourself and not try and be someone else when you don’t feel like you fit into that community.” 

The chat was small to start with. “There were about 10 of us to start with, and we never met at the same time, so we organized a bottomless brunch and met up”

“We created a safe space for people in rugby, for people who aren’t taking part in rugby for a reason. We would break down those barriers and get them involved and that was how Old Downbadians, the team, came to exist.”

Old Downbadians is a 7s team formed for players in the Black Community to feel at home and enjoy rugby. 

Sackey collaborated with Anne Ouwsiri, who is the co-founder of the Black Rugby Community, alongside Sackey. She set up the Black Girls Ruck (BGR) podcast back in 2020, and it has created a community that has grown into forming their own team based at Hackney RFC. 

“We have always been close with Black Girls Ruck, they are basically  our rugby sisters.” 

Sackey continues, “We were aiming for the same things just in different ways, and we thought if we wanted to do this properly, we should start a charity.”

Sackey compares the charity to a foreign fan group of a sports team. 

“We are making sure that black people can feel that they can engage with rugby. Much like a group like the San Diego Spurs fan club(Tottenham Hotspur fan group). They have a completely Americanized fan culture, but they all share a love for Spurs, and that is their thing.”

Players have felt excluded or isolated for a number of reasons. “It’s things as simple as music in the changing room, or the language they use that players use.”

“We had a player come and play beach rugby for us, and it was the first time he had played for ten years.” 

Sackey explained how his team mate, “just wanted to be around like-minded people, and not change who he was, while playing the sport he loved and he could do that here.”

Sackey also speaks of his own experiences growing up facing discrimination while at a fee-paying school in the Midlands.

“There were only three black guys in our year, and we all played rugby. Parents used to get me and the other Nigerian boy mixed up. I was a winger and he was a prop. We looked nothing like each other. Kids would make jokes about us, but we told ourselves this is the rugby culture. People make jokes about each other but it’s awkward looking back and seeing that this was the accepted normal, and I never really felt part of that side.”

The Charity is looking to increase the number of black coaches in the community game. Sackey points to: Former Harlequins Skills Coach and Current Technical Director of Ghana Rugby, Collin Osbourne, and Current Henley Hawks coach, Ricky Khan as trailblazers in this area. 

“The main aim is to coach up black coaches because no matter the code or level of rugby. You can’t be what you can’t see, so we are trying to create opportunities for people to become coaches.”

Sackey and Owusiri are hoping to create something that feels more like a family than a charity, and with supporters such as Sadia Kabeya, Max Ojomoh and England Captain Maro Itoje, they are clearly going the right way about it.