More than only skills honed at sports academy
A group of sports enthusiasts has started a sports academy to hone the skills of children from six to thirteen years old.
Although the Rhino Rugby Academy with Raymond Woest and coaches Courteney Blunden, Henro Bardenhorst, Simone Erasmus, and Chantelle Redelinghuys started with rugby, they now coach much more than rugby. “We chose the rhino as our name because it is one of the endangered species in our area and naming it after the rhino, raises awareness on the plight of the rhino,” says Woest. The sports academy provides the opportunity for children to learn and develop while playing and having fun.
“Children are encouraged and praised, which we believe builds confidence and momentum leading into school sports teams and involvement. We focus on enhancing skills by perfecting hand-eye coordination, ball handling, and gross motor skills in young players,” says Woest. He says that the rugby coaches are qualified International Rugby Board (IRB) and South African Rugby Union (SARU) coaches with Boksmart accreditation.
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The academy also boasts netball coaches who are Limpopo A-graded and SASN-graded netball umpires. “We are highly experienced in coaching primary school rugby and netball, as well as working with children, enhancing high-performance youth rugby and netball skills, and perfecting youth sporting techniques and safe play,” Woest says. “Our goals are to coach an advanced and exciting style of high tempo and continuity support play.
We also have fun games stations at the end of training,” he adds. The new sports season at the academy runs from October to December and commences again from February to June 2024. Woest says they have started training arrangements at no charge for October. “This applies to the children who will be signed up to participate in the new season,” he says.
Training is at Laerskool Mariepskop in Kampersrus and anyone interested can contact the coaches by email at hdsrhinorugby@gmail.com. You can also call or WhatsApp Courteney Blunden at 082 745 0670, Raymond Woest at 076 679 4729, and Henro Badenhorst at 083 556 7597 for rugby inquiries. For netball, call or WhatsApp Simoné Erasmus at 084 717 5190 and Chantelle Redelinghuys at 072 958 0079.
