THE BAD NEWS
As things stand in South Africa at the moment, there is a huge drop off in rugby participation numbers immediately after school, even though many players are actually still good enough to compete at a level and develop at a rate that keeps them on course to make it to senior rugby and going far in the sport. The reason for this is there are simply not enough genuine rugby opportunities out there anymore for school leavers. As a result, South Africa is now at a far greater risk of losing international quality players to other career paths than ever before.
THE GOOD NEWS
In 2015 a new rugby High Performance Centre (HPC) will be opening in the greater Pretoria area. A major part of the development will be a rugby “stadium” with seating of 6000 people with a club house and rugby institute facilities. These facilities will include 40 double rooms where there are plans to host 80 u/19 to u/21 players. The backers/sponsors/organisers of this new institute have contracted a major Carlton Club, who will also be using these facilities. This will provide the boys with an opportunity to play in Carlton Cup Rugby, being Pretoria’s premium club competition. Final negotiations are also underway with a Currie Cup B section province to ensure the boys will be playing Currie Cup B section u/19 and u/21 rugby. A three week tour to Europe is also planned.
Coaches “contracted” include a Currie Cup coach and two Vodacom Cup coaches, as the coaching staff with two well known “sport management companies” who will help with the professional management of the players. Physical development will be in the hands of a well-known trainer in Pretoria. A lot of well-known coaches is currently involved in developing the whole package. The sponsors want to host, train and feed the players full time as if they were professional players.
There is even opportunity for the schoolboy rugby followers to contribute by making suggestions on how this new structure should be implemented but here are some of the ideas that the new institution envisage:
A tournament to identify players:
The backers suggestion is to divide the country in eight regions being Bulls, Lions, Falcons/Pumas, KZN, Free State, Western Cape, Boland, and Eastern Cape. Allocating schools to rugby clubs in their area, where teams will be picked. Matches between the local clubs will be played and a “Regional” team will be selected. All regions will then play a 10-day long tournament at the HPC with the final 40 boys then be picked to join the Rugby Institute.
Who qualifies:
The organisers feel all u/18 boys not contracted by rugby unions and who did not represent their provinces during the two u/18 weeks.
When will the player identification tournament take place:
This is the most hotly debated question. June is Craven Week month, September is youth club’s week that leaves us with only November and December after the matric exams.
Who will be the selectors:
It’s felt at club level, the clubs will be responsible and at “Region” level the HPC together with the coaches of all the teams will be responsible. When it gets to the final 10-day tournament, the HPC will have the choice.
Quotas in selection:
The backers understand that in the various competitions they will have to adhere to the quotas applicable. However within the existing framework, the goal of the new institute when it comes to selections will be to treat all players as equal opportunity young South Africans. In other works, look past colour and focus on rugby.
The reasoning behind the new institute’s thinking is:
1) Hopefully they will collect most of the talented players slipping through the cracks in the identifying of future stars.
2) The clubs will get exposure and be able to inject new energy in junior teams at club level and more boys will continue to play rugby after school.
3) With a net spread a bit wider, the opportunity exists to uncover and develop more Marcel Coetzee’s – i.o.w. Springboks!
As said above overlooked players with potential will have a door opened to them. These youngsters might otherwise be forced to either give up the wonderful game or seek the perceived but often not a reality of “greener pastures” overseas.
@Sharon: Hi Sharon. If I have your permission to pass your email address onto the relevant person responsible for the HP Institute mentioned in the article above, I’m sure he will get in touch with you to offer you advice.
@McCulleys Workshop: Hi there, thank you for your response. Much appreciated. We are from the Eastern Cape and, as you know, always last to hear about anything.
@Sharon: Hi Sharon, I’m not sure which province you are from, but if KZN, Border or Eastern Cape it seems one should contact Glenwood directly or failing that GRASSHOPPER as their representative on this Blog. For all other regions contact BOG, except for the Krugersdorp and Vrede areas which fall under the adventures of SPEAR-TACKLE.
Hi all. I am new to this blog. Is the High Performance Centre still a possibility? If so, how does one go about getting in touch with someone to ensure that one’s son is given an opportunity? Please advise.
@McCulleys Workshop: You are right about S15. It has lost its appeal to a certain extent and ticket prices are too high to enable most families to get to all the games.
Besides, SBR is far more exciting. Give me an all-dayer with 25 odd games of SBR anytime over S15.
@meadows: @Tarpeys: I’m also of the opinion that with the removal of 3rd term rugby that the number of games have reduced, it would interesting to check the stats. I thought Westers had a great comment about the 2nd term ending slightly earlier for exams and CW preparations and for the balance of games to be played in the 3rd term. But the truth of it is, we are over loaded with rugby generally. Super 15 starting in Feb with the year end tour finishing in Nov. I would like to see the S15 gate stats over the last 10 years. There must have been a wholesale decline.
But then this initiative will be helping clubs to introduce themselves to school leavers. If I understand correctly schools will be divided and assigned to clubs, where the club’s junior coaches will pick their teams for the “provincial” tournament. Thereby developing a relationship between the school leavers and the coaches at the clubs. If 8 clubs per area is identified a total of 160 – 200 boys will be introduced to the clubs in a certain area. Sounds good to me.
@meadows: Yes oom, thats exactly the era I am talking about. Not sure though where you fitted in- drinker in the 4th team, arguing with the ref —. But the younger folk wont understand it because they never experienced it. Oh, and dont forget Despatch with players like Danie Gerber, Frans Erasmus and Adri Geldenhuys, one of the best fighters ever. But winning that tournament meant a lot to those players, even the international ones. Personally, I think that the balance between club, province and international rugby was just right. Young players are growing up with all the filth around them- its “normal” to them. So to with what is dished up to them as rugby. And quite frankly, Im getting sick of S15 and international rugby- over exposure. I enjoyed a proper tour by an international side, like the British Lions. They played 4 tests and in the 6-8 weeks that they were here, they visited even the small towns where there was a provincial team of some kind. I just dont think that what we have now- over the whole spectrum- is sustainable.
@Cappie: Yes I did know that – Danie Gerber’s Despatch team won a few in a row after a period of Matie dominance.
@All Black: I suspect that that horse has bolted unfortunately. I remember Wynand Claasen leaving Collegians in about ’81 to go and play for Durban Varsity because he believed that a strong Varsity would be good for Natal rugby. A few years later – about ’87 – a young Durban Varsity side with Joel Stransky and Andrew Aitken were Natal Club champs and actually beat Tuks in the Toyota tournament.
the deterioration of those institutions on every front is very sad.
@All Black: I agree to a point. It hasn’t helped much in places where the varsities are strong, except to make strong varsity sides. Currently, the Sharks academy players make up a large portion of the U20’s. Sadly, without them the U20’s would decline even further.
@Tarpeys: I would have assumed some were lost – I just had a look at the fixture list in 2008 which began the weekend before Easter and included 4 games in the third term for a total of 19 matches – excluding an additional 3 games played by a MHS XV made up of mostly 2nd team players at that years Independent Schools Festival.
I may well be wrong but my perception was that less games are being played since the change.
@NW_Knight: Sort out the Varsities in the Durban and PMB area and you will have strong club rugby again. All our KZN youth go to Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Pretoria. Get rid of the Sharks Academy and you will see the change.
@meadows: Did you know, that Naas Botha never had the opportunity to lift that cup?
@ Meadows. The interesting thing about MHS not playing in the third term was that no fixtures were lost. The school still plays the same amount of games with the season starting in the first term. Apparently there are less injuries than before and the 7s has been a real tool to unearth future stars who were below the radar in the B and C teams. Some talented hockey players have also had the opportunity to play some competitive rugga in the 7s.
Do you guys really think that SBR interest is on the decline? I’ve been to the Kearsney and St Stithians festivals in the last couple of years and the crowds there are massive.
@BOG: You are talking about my era
Those were the days when a Maties side at the Easter tournament would include the du Plessis’s, Robbie Blair, Divan, Jan-Boland, Rob Louw & Hempies etc.
All of the provincial champions were full of Currie Cup players and a smattering of Boks – all of whom, if they weren’t students, went back to their proper jobs the next week.
Kings Park would be absolutely full over the weekend.
You are quite right about the social aspect of sports clubs – it is sadly lost forever
@meadows: @NW_Knight: Im guessing, but I might be a few years older than you. So, Im comparing present day club rugby with the era where they had the annual Easter tournament, sponsored by Toyota in Durban. It was a big event with thousands of spectators. Sports clubs, not only for rugby, then, figured prominently in the social lives of most people.Even small clubs in smaller towns, could raise at least 4 teams on a Saturday- the 4ths for those who never came to practice, mostly due to their drinking program. Or their ability to argue with the ref. Its lost forever
@NW_Knight: Interesting. i was not aware of the depth issues. My perception is based on the 1st XV strengths of clubs like Rovers and Collegians and on what seems to be a working interface with the Sharks where on any given weekend you could find fringe current players as well as those coming back from injury and a host of former players turning out for those clubs.
@Meadows: Quite the opposite. Club rugby in Durban is in serious trouble. As little as 3 years ago, a Premier Division club had to field 4 open and 2 U20 teams. Not one club has been able to do that this year. Varsity College have had the bigger numbers this year and fielded 3 open and could quite easily have fielded 3 U20 sides. However, the U20 league was in disarray with numerous B team games being cancelled due to lack of numbers. Even Rovers and Collegians (traditionally the stronger clubs) battled to field a U20B team.
Currently, we lose a large number of players after school. Traditionally, most of these players have not played junior club rugby and have no affiliation to a club. 2 scenarios exist:
1. We continue playing sports at schools and find a way to ensure the boys play for club / province thereafter.
or
2. We move to the same system as most other countries, where schools teach and you join a club to play sports.
Pro’s and cons to both.
@Gungets Tuft: It irks me that MHS stopped playing in the third term a few years ago. They only used to play about four or five games after the July break but they were often some of the biggest games of the year – College, Westville and the final Hilton game all attracted big crowds.
@BOG: I think that CW attendance is influenced by where the event is held. I’m not sure about the variations from year to year but the two that I attended in recent times (Paul Roos in 2007 and Affies in 2008) were well attended. I suspect that the only people at an event held in a smaller rural area are the players parents and scouts.
The demise of club rugby in the platteland is a concern but I suppose it reflects the widening gap between the amateur and professional game and the concentration of the pro game in the major centres. Club rugby in Durban, for example, actually looks quite healthy with professional players turning out quite often for their clubs in order to keep or get match fit. A similar thing happens in JHB.
@Gungets Tuft: Precisely my point. But who is showing the interest? The parents and direct family. When young Johnny is finished, the interest of the family wanes and Dad returns to his couch to watch the game..@Predator: Die vraag is daardie mooi woord- volhoudbaarheid. En al die gevaartekens is daar maar, soos dikwels, kyk ons verby dit. Ek voorspel dat hierdie toere hoogstens 5-6 jaar kan voortduur en dat die “gesig” van skolerugby- net soos die res- onherkenbaar gaan verander
@BOG: Die premier liga en die CW se ouer bywoning is nie fantasties nie, maar baie ouers kan dit eenvoudig nie bekostig nie. Die skole reis so baie in die seisoen dat aan die einde van ‘n seisoen het jy of geen geld of geen verlof oor as ouer nie. Die CW het ‘n baie duur exercise vir ouers geword veral as jy ook die week wil bywoon. Ek het baie van die Kwaggas en van Oakdale se games hierdie jaar bygewoon, die expenses raak later duisende as jy jou oë uitvee. MAAR LEKKER!!! BLY DIT LEKKER!!!
@Ploegskaar: Ploeg laat die ouens maar k@k as hulle wil, dit sal nie die rugbykennis en talent in die Suide beinvloed nie. So ‘n fasiliteit behoort goed in ons geweste ook te doen.
@Tjoppa: Classic!! ou Tjops. Snoek en noodles sal ‘n interessante kombinasie wees.
@BOG: During the primary season it’s still a family affair in KZN. Go to any of the tier 1 schools in the 2nd term and there is a healthy interest, massive for the main derby games. 3rd Term, not so much, think people are just tired, and (certainly for College) the 3rd term games are not the main derbies (Affies, PBHS, KES etc), so the interest is less. College vs Glenwood at Glenwood was not too bad but I have seen bigger crowds,
@Queenian: Not just in the platteland- everywhere! Take away the so-called professional rugby, and what is left? Here and there, we see a bit of club rugby, but that too, is in dire straights. And lets be brutally honest with ourselves – there are danger signs around SBR as well. We still see an interest by parents, mostly fathers, but after that, the interest disappears. Look at the attendance at CW- a handful of spectators.
Club rugby in the platteland is dying out at a alarming rate which is not healthy for SA rugby.
@Ploegskaar: Maak so.
@Tjoppa: Jy het my e-pos adres, ek sal met graagte vir julle ‘n paar name aanstuur wat jou manne hier kan dophou, gratis en verniet, vir wat dit werd is. En voor iemand in sy broek kak, ek dink nie ek is ‘n kenner nie, kyk net baie rugby, van verskillende skole, oor al die ouderdomsgroepe, sonder enige affiliasies.
Vir die rekord, Tian was puik by tye hierdie jaar, maar die beste fly innie Kaap hierdie jaar was WP Nuffield speler Jean Strydom van Bellville.
@Ploegskaar: I think that the selectors of the Institute will definitely go for the best as their “jobs” will be on the line if the foul up.
Kan jy vir klein Tian sien na twee jaar van intensiewe opleiding. Miskien nie te laat nie.
A wonderful initiative, although the one potential flaw may be my personal pet-hate: selectors. Hope these boys do their homework and groundwork properly.
@Predator: Chinese Japanese en Capees. Sal ‘n lekker span maak.
Why in PTA. Every province should have one. I am aware that even the Japanese Universities are scouting the young school talent in SA at this very moment. when our administration catch a wake-up they will all be playing in Japan, speaking Japanese and marrying Japanese girls. A schoolboy that gets picked for a Japanese University earns as starting salary $3500 p/month with all expenses paid. Not bad for a schoolboy with no qualification. I agree 200%, pay the talented players very good salaries and develop them further.
It seems like an expensive exercise – if this is indeed a private initiative I wonder who is putting up the money.
I’m not sure that they have thought through the logistics of the planned selection process properly.
I can see a place for a privately funded scholarship scheme that finances players deemed to have potential, that have escaped the conventional net, to attend institutions like the Academies or varsities currently attached to the major unions.
While I have no doubt some players with potential slip through the cracks of selection for one of the Craven Week or Academy Week sides I think that the net is currently cast pretty wide, quotas notwithstanding, especially when the various Easter festivals and even the GK U16 week are taken into account, and only a very small percentage of those attending these established weeks will ever play senior professional rugby.
@Amalekite: We are starting to sound like an average evening at Book Club, does size matter
@BOG: Ha Ha
Why double rooms? To make it more attractive for those from the WC and Pretoria regions? Then their mothers can accompany them and ensure that they are always nicely tucked in at night, especially during the winter months. And— those from Durban who are already married with children, need not be excluded.
@Parkie: Ne ek glo nie as dit die regte tjom is waarvan ons praat gaan die Bulle en Tuks eerder les op se as voordeel trek. Blykbaar het twee ander unies reeds besluit om hande te vat met die Instituut om hul spanne te versterk.
This initiative will favour the Bulls even further.
@Amalekite: Perhaps in heart. Those Witbank boys a tough bas.., I mean gentleman.
@McCulleys Workshop: You are right that size is important at this level, although teams like Grey do prove that you can box above your weight if you are well coached and approach the game correctly.
If you look at our Craven side’s poor performance against the Pumas (where size was not a factor), then you need to recognise that our problems lie much deeper than in size……
@Tjoppa: That is certain refreshing, not a commercial venture, ‘cram in as many as we can and give them hope, Joanna’. Yes players do get overlooked, the Quota system will always see to this. But from what I can see the talented black players end in the traditional rugby playing schools by hook or by crook, the balance end up with sufficient exposure. So yes those who get excluded from CW because of our systems, invariably could still end up at an academy. Certainly non CW players make it into the Sharks academy, but will pay!
@Tjoppa: Now that is good news. Boys selected on merit with a view of having an agent look after their career from the get go. The fact that the parents are not expected to pay is huge in this fragile economy.
@McCulleys Workshop: I spoken to a well informed person, as Beet would put it, and apparently this academy is a private initiative and not affiliated at all to the Bulls. Furthermore the boys selected to the Institute will not pay a dime for the two years But they will have to sign agreements with agents to manage their careers should they be successful. A Play now and Pay later program?
@McCulleys Workshop: The essence of this proposed academy is to unearth talent not identified by the selectors. Do you think KZN have a problem like that. I know up North this is a major problem.
@McCulleys Workshop: I mean we were lacking size generally in KZN this season.
@Amalekite: I didn’t watch the academy A side, but from my assessment, the size of the CW side (which I did watch), with the inclusion of the Du Preez and Shramm, would have given the academy side big points. I don’t think the academy side would’ve been comparable upfront. Just my opinion. Size and physical strength at this level makes a big difference in the absence of very good coaching and we were lacking that in KZN generally this season. (The Grey side is not particularly big, but the team ethos, sublime support play and very very quick recycling of the ball with players running at angles makes them formidable – you don’t get that right with a warm up of a few weeks practicing together nor in the absence of brilliant coaching)
@McCulleys Workshop: Just as a matter of interest, how do you think the KZN Academy side would have fared against the KZN Craven week side?
@McCulleys Workshop: I normally agree with your comments, but the one about the KZN Academy B side is not one that I would agree with.
As Buffel has mentioned, this side was put together at the last minute. They could only field the boys that were available. Unfortunately, there were a couple that were overseas etc.
They had one practice on the Sunday. They then defeated the Leopards CD 66-0 and the Griquas CD 34-0.
On the final day, they lost 40-28 to Boland A who had beaten the Blue Bulls A on the first day. They were trailing 26-0 at half time. The Michaelhouse coach then brought on his better players for the second half, but it was too late. It was not an easy task for him either, as he was not familiar with the boys in his team.
This B side may have lost to the A side if they had played, but I honestly think that it would have been pretty close.
@McCulleys Workshop: I hear where you are coming from but that side was a “makeshift” side. They got together on the Sunday,played on Monday and won their first outing.We all know the Goodson saga and there are many more examples of boys not making it due to selection issues etc. There were boys left out all together that IMHO would make up a genuine competitive side. Why not increase the talent pool so there are more options for the Unions etc to select from. The DRSU U18 side selected for the IPT have boys from less fancied schools making the grade that would ordinarily slip through the cracks but now have an opportunity to show their talents and have a chance of being noticed. Marcel is one of those boys and we all know how that has turned out. Give more boys a chance is what I say and this is one way to go. Well done to those involved.
@Tjoppa: Tjop, good piece on the other thread on your Affies sentiment, well done to a great season.
@Tarpeys: Then you do not know the Bulls. If you are not contracted you will definitely not be playing for TUKS in the Varsity Cup.
@Tjoppa: No, referring to academy costs, can only imagine similar if it includes some form of tertiary package.
This, to me, sounds like a relaunch of the Tuks Academy. I see nothing different here. I tend to agree with the sentiment that this might be a waste of time giving false hope to boys who would be better off studying and aiming to play Young Guns and Varsity Cup. I really don’t think that that many boys fall through the cracks. Marcell Coetzee is more of an exception rather than the rule.
@McCulleys Workshop: Do you know what the costs are for the chosen boys?
@CharlesZA: I agree with you. Money would be better spent on ensuring that the varsity cup is actually the varsity cup, with sides made up of full time students, not those that missed the cut in curry cup/vodacom cup pretending to be studying Actuarial Science on a 1 month Diploma! Too many players living in hope while Dad pays R60,000 a year.
@Buffel: I’m not sure I agree with you. Our rugby is concentrated in too few schools in KZN and we see most of the talent on weekly display. I watched the make shift KZN side that played in the academy week due to Kenya? dropping out. They wouldn’t run the KZN A side close, in fact it would be a little like Grey vs Glenwood.
Im sure there are many that are missed but i dint believe more get missed than what get selected. Ill pick a u21 side in SA with only players that played craven week and anyone here select one that from those who didnt and we see which side looks better. My actual point is that we are giving 19 year old boys hope to make living from game when they should be studying and ensuring a good future for themselves. Dont get me wrong i would love to see more guys play the game at high level but will they be able to support themselves for longer than a couple of years?
Go read some stats on NFL players and more specific the frindge players. On avg 85% of all players that attempt to play the game pro in US go broke before age of 25.
Sorry for getting all serious.
>Tierklou: I think of a Tian Nel and various other players I have seen this year who according to my little knowledge was disadvantaged not being selected for CW.
@CharlesZA: That equates to 30 boys per union. I am sure that we could muster another 30 boys from kzn that would be very competetive and will go as far as saying run the current KZN CW side close.
While in principal this is a good undertaking I suspect the real winners will be the European clubs as with the new quotas anounced for Vodacom cup teams many boys will loose the oportunity to showcase their talent and will head directly overseas . I really look forward to the days when schoolboy players are judged on their talent – not colour, school or who your daddy knows . We certainly have the genetics and the passion – we only need to sort out the administration !
@CharlesZA: For every one player making it, there is at least 2 that slipped through and disappear because of various reasons. In WP we have the problem of bad CW selectors, boys overseen because they are not in the “right” school, etc.
Do yourself a favour and read the story of Marcell Coetzee.
The boys that will benefit of this will definitely be those of the smaller so called not “traditional” rugby schools like Stellenberg and Tygerberg.
Just a pitty it is only in Pretoria – imagine the nice HP center WP could build with the R6 million they spend on Jantjies and Taute.
@CharlesZA: The more the merrier.
Know Alan Zondagh runs an academy in Boland http://www.rpcrugby.com/ Not sure but I think Boland contract their u19s. http://www.bolandrugby.com/boland_rugby_team.php?sub_section=other
Do teams like Boland, SWD and Griffons contract u19 players? If so how many? If they do, how many players can realistically slip through the cracks? 14 unions x 30 players each(less than some unions give out) is 420 players. Now we want to give another 40 young men the hope of being a professional rugby player.
what an opportunity for the boys that slip through the cracks that are not selected for the craven week and academy teams. The fact that the boys will be selected on rugby ability alone is huge. This generation ,post ’94 , is defineatly not underprivilaged and should be selected on merit,not colour. Which union will benefit from the academy or will it be a pool of boys that can be taken up by any union. I think this is long overdue. well done!