The Roodepoort Rugby Club has been entrenched at Rand Leases Sports Ground, uniting the community for 72 years.
From winning the President’s Cup in 1947 to becoming champions of the Pirates Grand Challenge in 2013.
Springbok players such as Piet Botha, Pieter Hendriks, Adriaan Richter and Ballie Swart started their playing careers at the Roodepoort club.
However, the club has now closed the chapter on their time at the sports ground.
This year the club moved to a new venue after their lease expired last year and was not renewed.
“It was with a lot of sadness that we had to move from the venue because 72 years of history is nothing to scoff at. As a club we’ve had some wonderful memories there, but we felt no was the time for us to move on,” said the club’s president Neels van Aswagen.
The rugby club spent time searching for their new venue and found a home at Hoërskool Roodepoort’s sports field which welcomed the club with open arms.
“The facilities at the school are much improved so our decision to come here has been a good one. However, we will not stop there as we plan to improve the facilities and work hand in hand with the school,” said Van Aswagen.
The club has big plans for the new school which will serve not only to improve the school but to help their young rugby players by creating a rugby academy and integrate them into the team when the school rugby season is complete.
A big boost for the school will come later this year when the club hosts its annual schools rugby series where rugby teams from schools across the province participate.
The club has also changed its internal structures, having a commercial department to handle sponsorship and the running of the club while the rugby department will concentrate on the field, finding and developing players for the team.
Another change for the club comes from its junior teams where the Golden Lions Rugby Union has instructed its teams to do away with the U/19 team and focus on the U/20 and U/21 teams which are in line with international standards.
This will give the players a chance to fight for a place in the Junior Springboks team.
With the club having moved to Hoërskool Roodepoort, the sports ground was chosen as one of the venues where the Golden Lions will play a Currie Cup match. This will be a first for the school and the club.
With the move, the club is calling on the community to support the club and help reassert the legacy of the Roodepoort Rugby Club at its new home.
“We are appealing to the rugby fans in the community to come and support us at our matches as the players show off their talents. I would like to thank the school and the club’s committee for this opportunity,” said Van Aswagen.
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