Young rugby player tackles her dreams head-on

POLOKWANE – A majority of people who genuinely love sports dedicate years of their lives to excel in it.

Annaline Williams (19), who wears jersey number two for the Westax Development Rugby Club, is one of those people.

Well-spoken of by her coaches, Williams seems to be a promising player with a lot to achieve and learn about rugby, because she aspires to play for the senior national female rugby team one day.

“She started in 2019 and has continued to improve ever since. I am incredibly proud of her because she is focused on achieving excellence and her performance is a lot better now,” says coach Kaizer Adams.

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Her journey into rugby started with a suggestion by one of the coaches, and she thought, because of her posture she would fit in.

“At first I thought that they wanted me to be part of the team because of my physical strength, but as time went by, I actually started to develop an interest in the sport and I realised that am very good at it.”

She says the most important thing about the sport is the skills it teaches her. “I like rugby because it teaches one how to have good sportsmanship and to be social with other people.”

Williams says because of rugby she gets to interact with a lot of people, and this has improved her self-discipline.

“I never thought I would love rugby at any point in my life, because I had absolutely no idea what the sport entailed, but because of the opportunities that were given to me, I was able to learn more about the sport, and from coach who introduced me to the sport,” she says.

She trains three times a week under supervision and once alone. Apart from rugby Williams likes to cook and looks forward to enroll for a hospitality course at a higher education institution to further her education and expand her skills.