The Education department of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, in partnership with the Brazilian Rugby Federation, has been taking the sport into Rio de Janeiro's public schools. After being trained by the federation, the schools’ physical education teachers have been introducing rugby to the children.

The results of this partnership have been immediate. Sixth grade students from Guimarães Rosa Municipal School, in the Magalhães Bastos neighbourhood, fell in love with the new sport and the federation hopes to reap benefits in the near future.

“I didn’t know rugby, I only played dodgeball at school,” said Marcelly Cristini, 12. “I enjoyed doing something new. Rugby is a different sport, I had never seen anything quite like it. The ball can only be passed backwards or sideways, never forward. I still have a lot to learn, but we already know how to play and it’s guaranteed fun."

Marcelly only had one reservation.

“I just didn’t like the shorts, they are for boys, too big and ugly,” she said.

PE teacher Lucia Imbrosio was responsible for introducing the sport to the schoolchildren. While football and handball have traditionally been the children’s favourite sports, now there is another new and interesting option.

“It was love at first sight,” she said. “The children really identified with the sport. It makes them happy. Matches aren’t quiet, on the contrary, they are very active. And at their age, running is what they enjoy the most. We started by providing lessons for sixth graders and we’ll gradually introduce them to students from other grades. Also, because they see other children playing, the kids get curious and want to participate as well.”

The school’s seventh graders can hardly wait to start practising the new sport. “It looks like a lot of fun. I found it quite interesting,” said Geovana Amorim, 13.

Isabeli Christine added: “Handball is my favourite sport. We have a very good team, we even won a competition between school teams. But it’s always good to learn how to play new sports.”

Fernando Portugal, captain of Brazil's national rugby team, said that children learn as they play. According to him, new talents may arise and could even represent Brazil in international competitions, such as the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, when rugby sevens will make its Olympic debut.

“We’re looking for new talents for the national team and there’s nothing better than introducing the sport in Brazilian schools,” said Portugal. “I believe that we’ll reap the benefits of this effort.”

Students pose with the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games logos - Rio 2016/Alex Ferro

The Magalhães Bastos neighbourhood is close to Deodoro, the region that that will host the rugby sevens events in 2016.

Rio 2016's Education department organises various activities, such as municipal schoolchildren’s visits to the National History Museum, which is currently hosting an interactive exhibition organised by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB).

It also helped organise an event, shown in the video below, in which former England rugby sevens captain Ollie Phillips taught rugby to Brazilian kids on Flamengo beach in Rio.