Kliptown Rugby Club a breeding ground for exceptional talent

The future looks bright for the Kliptown Rugby Club even though it is facing a variety of challenges.

Scarcity of facilities and financial constraints have not deterred the club from nurturing talent in Kliptown and surrounding areas.

Through hard work and determination from management, the club has managed to play in the league of the Golden Lions Rugby Union.

Last year, six of their players were selected to play for the Golden Lions in the provincial tournaments in Cape Town.

Adding to that success, the club played in the Coca-Cola Series where they were knocked out in the finals last year by Pretoria Tech.

Their under 15 and under 16 teams were knocked out in the finals of the regional tournaments.

This means that the team played three finals last year. This is a huge success considering the fact that the club is struggling with finance and some of their players play barefoot.

Russell Kriele who started the club five years ago said, “This success shows that there is development taking place in the club.”

What makes the management of the club happier is the fact that it has produced players who have went on to play for other big clubs. Christopher Adriaanse who is the club’s Media Liaison Office feels that if they had enough resources they would have done a lot more than what they have done.

“Finance is our major challenge. We even struggle with transport when we are going to games,” said Adriaanse.

The club has more than 70 players and it is the only club in Kliptown and surrounding areas.

As a result, they don’t often get games and they only play far away from home which is a challenge for them in terms of transport.

“The rugby culture in this province is still new. We are trying to cultivate the sport of rugby especially in the black and coloured communities,” said Adriaanse.

Unlike soccer, it is not easy to get sponsors for rugby hence the club doesn’t have enough resources.

Despite the lack of resources the club is playing a pivotal role in the development of the sport in Kliptown and surrounding areas especially in schools.

The club originates from Kliptown Secondary School and it still maintains a good relationship with the school. It does not only have a relationship with Kliptown Secondary but other schools as well which often send their pupils to train with the club.

Currently the club is comprised of players from Kliptown, Chiawelo, Eldorado Park, Freedom Park, Slovo Park, Klipspruit and Klipspruit West.

Financial assistance from the public and private sector can help the club realise its vision of facilitating the process of seeing young people overcome the poverty cycle.

@MzwaJourno