Institute hopes to churn out all-rounded women rugby players

Women’s rugby in Gauteng will never be the same again following the launch of the first-ever Gauteng Women’s Rugby Institute.

The institute is tasked with accelerating the development and professionalisation of the game in the province.

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Speaking at the launch of the institute, which is the brainchild of the Gauteng Sports Confederation together with other partners, Moonira Ramathula, chairperson of the institute and vice-president of the Gauteng Sports Confederation, said the organisations have been hard at work behind the scenes to ensure the professionalisation of women’s soccer.

“Now that this [soccer] project is on track and going stronger by the day, it was now the turn for rugby. We have gotten used to doing groundbreaking things around sport in Gauteng and this time we want rugby to follow suit. Gauteng is known as the Home of Champions and it is for this reason why we are often the trendsetters,” she said.

The aim of the institute is to harness the rugby talent of young girls, and groom and develop them into fully-fledged stars of the game and professionals par-excellence, not just on the rugby field but in academics and skills that can sustain them long after their playing days.

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The players will also put through high-performance strength and conditioning programmes at the institute. “This strength and conditioning programme, coupled with educational qualifications and skills transfer, is meant to produce an all-rounded player that can stand the test of time.

“You can play rugby now but in the process sustain a career crippling injury such that you may not play the game again, hence, in such a situation you will need something to fall back on and this is why we want to develop a holistic being.”

Students can take a wide range of courses from sports management to whatever they desire and lucky ones can also win sports scholarships to various national varsities and even abroad.

“It is vital that we prepare our players and students at the same time for a life in and after rugby and we do this by mapping a pathway towards employability within the game itself as an administrator, coach etc or even outside the game in fields such as agriculture and others.”

Ramathula said she was hopeful the institute would produce players of a high calibre not just on the playing fields but also in life after the game which she said was one of the most trying times for most sportspeople.

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