Looking to take rural rugby to the next level
“We have reached a place in the development projects of rugby where we need to start making a physical difference in order to make our projects self-sustainable.”
These are the words of South African Rural Rugby Development Programme CEO Jaco Coetzer, who has championed development rugby programmes in Eastern and Southern Gauteng townships for the last three years.
Development rugby in Daveyton was the catalyst that saw rural rugby rise to new levels in 2016 with the creation of the Vuka League for township schools and then the Legends Cup Regional Games, where the top players from the Vuka League teams are selected to represent a district side.
A provincial developmental side is then selected from the Legends Cup district sides to participate at the Iqhawe Week and OR Tambo Games.
Coetzer is hoping to leave a tangible and long-lasting rugby legacy in the Daveyton and Etwatwa communities by upgrading open fields to rugby fields with a playable surface.
“This year we have identified three fields in Daveyton and Etwatwa at Unity Secondary School in Daveyton, Caiphus Nyoka Secondary School in Etwatwa and the field next to Sinaba Stadium.
“The field at Unity Secondary School is already fenced and secure, but needs to be levelled out to have a playable surface while the field at Caiphus Nyoka Secondary School is also fenced and secure, but there are several holes that need to be filled up to make it playable,” added Coetzer, who is also the head of rugby at St Dunstan’s College.
“The field next to Sinaba Stadium is not fenced and that will have to be our first priority.
“It then needs to be levelled to make the surface playable – I am looking around to find a shipping container that they can use to store their equipment in.
“None of these fields are equipped with rugby posts, but the project will now focus on getting a playable surface – we need to score tries in South Africa.”
Much has been achieved even without having the ideal rugby fields to play on:
• Forty-five secondary schools in townships around Eastern and Southern Gauteng that never played rugby before are now playing rugby in the Vuka League. This project was made possible by the South African Rugby Legends Association (SARLA) and the South African Rugby Union (SARU) through partnerships with St Dunstan’s College, the Gauteng Department of Education and the Valke Rugby Union.
“The Ekurhuleni metro has also been working hard behind the scenes to assist us with access to community stadiums and fields,” said Coetzer.
• Ten primary schools are now a part of the Get Into Rugby Programme. “We are exposing close to 6000 learners from Grades R, One, Two and Three to the game of rugby with the concept of tag-and-touch rugby.” This project was made possible by SARLA, World Rugby and SARU through partnerships with Global Performance Management and the Department of Education.
• Seven township clubs are now taking part in u-20 and senior league games. This project was made possible by the Valke Rugby Union and the Gauteng Sports Council, with Ekurhuleni again working hard behind the scenes to provide access to the stadiums and community fields.
“Normally a community project like this would involve the set-up of a playing surface first with the hopes of getting people to play the sport.
“We did it the other way around,” added Coetzer.
“We have made sure that rugby gets played first and it has now become the first choice sport of so many individuals.”
If you or your organisation would like to get involved with development rugby projects in the community contact Coetzer on 074 189 2349 or email to jaco.coetzer@sarrdp.co.za.
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