While the University of Buffalo has a big game this weekend against St. Bonavanture, they will be without one of their most electric players, as Ike Onwukanjo, along with his brother, Onye, will be in South Africa.

The Onwukanjo brothers will be preparing for the Nigerian national 7s team in African zone qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games, to be held in South Africa November 14-15. They leave for Lagos, Nigeria on Saturday, and then travel with the team to Johannesburg, SA after that. While Kenya will be favored in this competition, Nigeria is certainly a team with an eye to qualification, and the Onwukanjos will be a big part of that.

“I’m pretty excited about it,” said Ike Onwukanjo. “Since rugby was announced to be in the Olympics, we kept saying how we would want to be a part of that, so to have this opportunity is great.” 

The brothers have a strength and conditioning program that they have been following over and above their regular rugby training, and Ike said he has been working closely with his UB S&C coach, as well.

The sessions include weekly deep tests, shuttle runs, and hill runs, and he updates the Nigerian coaching staff with his scores and times. That coaching staff includes Head Coach and former South Africa 7s legen Fabian Juries. 

It’s hard work, but it’s worth it. The brothers spent three weeks in the summer in Nigeria training with the team, before coming back to the USA. They returned to Nigeria once again two weeks ago to play in the Independence Day 7s, which served as the final selection vehicle for the Nigeria team.

While the Nigerian Rugby Union is not a rich national governing body, the players do get their travel and expenses aid for. The only expenditure Ike had to make was to pay for his Nigerian passport. Perhaps the hardest part has been jumping between the weather in Nigeria, which often tops 90 degrees, to Buffalo, NY in the fall.

“It’s a rough adjustment,” said Ike. 

Ike said farewell to his UB team in grand fashion, scoring six tries in a 103-17 defeat of Brockport. Nigeria is drawn alongside Zimbabwe, Uganda and Zambia in Pool B.