November 16, 2006.

Life in soccer mad Bosnia is challenging for a rugby fan says New Zealand Army Captain and Hurricanes rugby team supporter Julia Leckey.

She is in the middle of a six month deployment to the Balkan state serving with 11 other Kiwis in the European Union Force in Bosnia (EUFOR). EUFOR aims to get the country back on its feet following the ethnic conflict and international intervention of the early 1990’s.

Capt Leckey says one of the biggest challenges during her tour has been going without rugby in the soccer loving nation.
 
Fortunately, a new group of rugby loving Welsh Guards have recently arrived in the city of Banja Luka were she is based, giving her the chance to discuss rugby and her favourite team back home in Palmerston North – The Hurricanes.

“The emphasis on soccer has subsided somewhat and an appreciation for rugby has increased. I’ve even seen a group of the Welsh Guards playing touch rugby,” Capt Leckey says.

Capt Leckey and the other New Zealand personnel in Bosnia are based in and around Banja Luka, in the north of the country. 

Her three-person team works alongside a separate eight-person New Zealand Liaison and Observation Team (LOT) to help keep weapons off the street and foster good relationships between local organisations.

They do this through meeting with police, religious leaders and government authorities and “feeling the pulse of the people,” she says.

New Zealand has contributed troops to Bosnia since 1994.

“Since those early days there has been a significant improvement in the operational environment. We have nearly reached the point where a drawdown can take place, and near full control of the country can be handed back to Bosnians.”

A fresh eight-person LOT team replaced the previous team in late October. Capt Leckey and the other two in her team will be replaced by a new rotation in February 2007.