Crossing the advantage line (a sports story of hope)
Something magical is taking place with regard to rugby, sport and social development in Daveyton.
Nelson Mandela famously said: “Sport has the power to change the world.
“It has the power to inspire.
“It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.
“It speaks to youth in a language they understand.
“Sport can create hope where once there was only despair.”
On Mandela Day, Saturday, July 18, the City Times discovered, at Daveyton’s Sinaba Stadium, that with a little determination, dedication and application people can use sport to grow both themselves and their communities, and implement those wise words that Madiba once stated.
It is an untold grassroots story of what the new South Africa and sport development is really about, without the support of major sporting bodies.
The City Times met up with Chris van Niekerk and Jaco Coetzer, of St Dunstan’s College, who are trying to grow the sport of rugby in the township and who are aiming to achieve exactly what Mandela said through the Daveyton Rugby Development Programme, dubbed by Coetzer as the “Vuttas”.
“We started the programme in February, as we were looking at how we could synergise with our environment and with our rugby academy at St Dunstan’s,” said van Niekerk, director of the Daveyton programme
“We looked at the staff we have onboard and brought in Jaco Coetzer (programme manager), who came to us from Hoërskool Kempton Park and who has a massive rugby background, to assist us with something that would match his competence and what we are trying to do in the community.”
Van Niekerk explained that they linked up with the Daveyton Soccer Academy as a community partner and rented the Sinaba Stadium for 10 rugby clinics.
“We have trained about 25 coaches from within the community and started with Saturday sessions,” he said.
He added that the growth of the whole programme has been incredibly organic.
“The growth model established here is that there are 10 players for every one coach and we also try to keep the external involvement from our side to a minimum, by allowing our partners to take ownership of the project and empower themselves.”
On Saturday, Old Dunstonians Taygen Ormandy and Devon Rossouw were coaching and working with the older players, while the juniors were learning the rugby basics through their recently empowered local coaches.
When questioned about the future plans for the programme, van Niekerk said: “It has purely been an engagement tool and we are hoping to further work with our partners in a positive way.
“St Dunstan’s has been involved with the community for many years now, through our Unity Secondary School partnership, and this is a slow expansion of our social responsibility.
“The people here already have a stadium and there is a big interest in rugby.
“We didn’t know it would grow this fast.
“The goal, initially, was to have only 25 players, but now we have 173 youngsters on our register.
“We have affiliated with the local bodies as a capacity building agent and we’ll strengthen from there going forward.
“The bigger picture is to keep on engaging with the community and to see what’s next.”
Van Niekerk added that not a massive amount of money is being pushed around, but the difference that the project is making is immeasurable.
“I’ll be extremely surprised if there are not a few rugby players here, in Daveyton, who can go all the way; no matter how much you do, a project like this will always take on its own life,” he explained
“You can give it as much direction as you want, but you must let it grow organically.”
Daveyton’s Raymond Chiloane, one of the founding members of the project, has been a massive driving force of the programme and the go-to man with regard to communicating with the community.
“Development of sport is something that is poor in the township,” he said.
“It’s there, but we don’t always have the capacity and the equipment to take it further.
“We always have this mentality that rugby is a white man’s game, but we’re changing that now.
“Chris and Jaco came in and after just two meetings we ran with the project and now it is going strong.
“I’m a qualified coach now and have my BokSmart card.
“I didn’t know anything about rugby; I was watching it and didn’t understand how to play it, but today I know the game and I am trying to get more people involved and to pass on the skills to others.”
The programme is still in its infancy stages, but it’s a prime example of how community members from different backgrounds can come together in the name of sport, to empower and develop people.
If you would like more information about the project email to van Niekerk at chrisv@stdunstans.co.za.
VIDEO: The “Vuttas” of the Daveyton Rugby Development Programme take on the local club players, the Daveyton Rhinos in a friendly Sevens match at Sinaba Stadium, the rugby played was of an extremely impressive level.
