Women’s rugby flourishes despite financial challenges
Women's rugby is gaining momentum in South Africa.
The Gauteng Women’s Rugby Institute (GRWI), the first high-performance programme in Africa focusing on women’s rugby, promises to break boundaries again in 2022.
The institute does not only pride itself on sports excellence but also on producing well-rounded athletes who also excel in academia.
In 2021, the institute’s players received their first NQF level 4 Sport Administration certificates and according to founder Jaco Coetzer, they will be done with their first year of studies by March this year.
Despite a turbulent 2021, the institute still managed to achieve excellence – with several players and coaches receiving national and provincial call ups.
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“We have survived with an extreme cut in the budget. We have been able to still grow female rugby with our extended u/16 and u/18 high performance programmes,” said Coetzer.
Coetzer added that 67% of his players represented the senior provincial team while players such as Zintle Nonkosana, Ayanda Malinga and Lyala Arrison went on to play for the Blue Bulls Women in Pretoria.
Several of the institute’s players were selected for the Springboks training squad for their 2021 tour of Europe. However, only Ayanda Malinga and Lerato Makua made the cut for the Springboks first tour in four years.
Coetzer said this highlights the hard work the institute and its partner, the Valke Rugby Union, are putting behind the scene.
“The involvement of the GWRI in the Valke Rugby Union made sure that the senior provincial team played in the first division for the first time in five years. They finished second on the log while also scoring the most tries in the division.
“With the growth of female rugby in the Valke Rugby Union and because of the the work we do, we will now have 16 senior female teams playing in different leagues. We now have 137 secondary schools in the Ekurhuleni and Sedibeng areas that have female rugby as part of their extramural activities.”
Their full list of achievements in 2021 includes winning the NPO of the Year in the Ekurhuleni Women in Sports Awards while Botle Mokoena was named sports achiever of the year in the Sedibeng Women in Sport Awards.
Coetzer said a lack of funding nearly derailed their plans in 2021. He has appealed for funds from stakeholders in the metro for the institute to continue to grow women’s rugby in the region.
“We did it in 2021 with little and sometimes no funding where board members had to contribute out of their own pocket.
“Imagine what we will be able to accomplish if we have funding and the board, staff and players are able to focus on growing the institute? We have built solid relationships and we now need new sponsors to come on board.”
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