Former Protea’s player now coaches at HeronBridge College
NEITGEDACHT – HeronBridge College welcomes former professional cricket player Zander de Bruyn to the school as the new director of the sport.
And that’s a six for HeronBridge cricket.
In January, the school in Nietgedacht welcomed Zander de Bruyn, who has 20 years’ experience as a professional cricketer both in South Africa and overseas, to his new role as director of cricket. De Bruyn will be working with the preparatory and high school to help young athletes improve their skills and develop a passion for the game.
“My son attends HeronBridge College, he’s in Grade 6, and I just saw a need for me to help with cricket at the school,” de Bruyn told the Fourways Review. “With the prep school, I want to focus on the more technical cricket skills, particularly during their physical education classes. We’ll focus on showing them how to hold the bat and so on.
“With the plays in the high school, it will be more about honing their skills and keeping talented players at the school. I’ll also be working to get coaches here to the right level.”
De Bruyn is a batting all-rounder who has many years’ experience in the game – he has played as part of the South African national cricket team, the Lions and even internationally for a few years when he played for United Kingdom teams. He retired from the profession about six years ago and has since focused on coaching.
As he starts out at HeronBridge College, he wants to create a cricket culture throughout the grades. Cricket season will run until March, and then pick up again in the last few months of the year.
“I’m so excited, the school has big potential. I’ve only been here two weeks so far but the kids have been great to work with and we have some very good players, particularly in the U10, U11 and U12 teams.”
HeronBridge College is also very excited to have De Bruyn join the team.
“It’s wonderful to have Zander here, and we believe he will make a monumental difference [to the school and its cricket players] with him on board,” said Tarryn Payne, the head of marketing for HeronBridge.
De Bruyn will also be running a cricket academy from the school grounds to give more specialised coaching to smaller groups of players.
Details: www.heronbridgecollege.co.za
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