HARLEQUINS Sports Club is making a comeback again thanks to a dedicated team of youngsters who want it to become the heart of the community.
“The plan is to remove the stigma and make Harlequins the family place it used to be,” said rugby chairman, Wesley Slabbert.
Wesley, along with an entirely new committee and coaching team, is at the helm of turning, not only the rugby section of the club around, but the entire facility.
“We want to change perception. For many years, Harlequins has been seen in a bad light,” he said.
“It all began in about 2006, when the club’s main benefactor left and things started going downhill. Then the sponsors pulled out and we couldn’t afford to pay the top players’ wages. Harlequins dropped out of the premier league and without all the extras that come with that, the club declined,” added new first team head coach, Devon Dippenaar.
Added to that was a tenant that spent over R1.5-million to turn part of the clubhouse into a night club. This tenant was evicted in February after he racked up an electricity bill of over R680,000.
The council came with armed guards and removed the electricity unit entirely after payments were deferred multiple times, leaving Harlequins without an electricity supply.
The clubhouse was left with only a generator to provide electricity until two weeks ago when their electricity connection was reinstated.
When Wesley decided to take up the task of transforming the club, he replaced the committee members and coaching staff with people he believed had a desire to reinvigorate the club.
“The entire rugby team management changed and the rest of the club was closed off to public access, except the rugby bar. We fixed up that area and have been gradually raising funds to pay off the electricity bill and refurbish the building,” said Wesley.
Since they came on board the team has begun renovating the gym and women’s toilets; fixed the pool; begun an overhaul on the room by the pool; received approval for the stands to be reconditioned and hosted a sports day with the municipality for underprivileged children; junior rugby and touch rugby tournaments and a pop up fair, among other successes.
Devon, who previously coached at Amanzimtoti Rugby Club and was the Sharks Club XV conditioning coach and conditioning coach for the KZN Wildebeest, believes the success of the rugby club will have a knock-on effect on the rest of the club.
“Harlequins used to be one of the strongest teams in KZN, producing Sharks and Springboks. Once they dropped out of the premier league into the first division, they lost all the benefits that come with the prestige. My goal is to get them back to premier where there will be support from the Sharks Academy and other arenas.
Player recruitment is essential and I have already secured a number of top players to the team. For me, this is a passion project and the money the rugby side brings into the club will mean better opportunities for development throughout,” said Devon.
Once the rugby level is back to a good standard, the committee plans to re-open the clubhouse to the public.
“It will not be a night club, but a family place. We want to have better braai facilities and jungle gyms. We are going to revamp the kitchen and there is a long-term plan for the renovation the parking lot.
We already have soccer played on astroturf and mashie golf, but we hope to get hockey and netball back. The gym is being renovated and registered members train for free. This is open to the public.
No-one on the committee gets paid and the books are open to anyone who wants to view them. The club needs the support of the community. We are trying to bring respect and camaraderie back and make Harlequins the gem of the Bluff that it used to be,” said Wesley.
For information or to get involved call Wesley on 072-477-9457.
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