Every year at the conclusion of the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival selectors from The Sharks and Sharks Academy hand out bursary prizes to selected players. In 2014 there are three bursaries each valued at over R100 000 when including the contract with the Academy for 2015, accommodation and the tuition bursary with one of its education partners.
In terms of being a marketing tool, the concept is a huge success, as it draws a lot of media attention. As a method of recruitment, well you can judge for yourself by looking at the table below. It goes to show how difficult the post-school recruitment game really is. It’s expected that this year just like in the last couple of years, the selectors will go out of their way to identify non-committed players who they think are good enough rugby players to succeed in the sport after school and who would be interested in making Durban their home. Even with this careful filtering in place, they have struggled to gain commitment from recipients.
| # | Year | Player | School | Result | Success |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008 | Sbura Sithole | Queens College | Sharks Super Rugby debut in 2013. Doing well | 100% |
| 2 | 2008 | Hendrik le Grange | HTS Middelburg | Joined the Golden Lions after school | 0% |
| 3 | 2009 | Leon Makiwane | Queens | Left Academy to pursue athletics career | 100% |
| 4 | 2009 | Chris Cloete | Selborne | Sharks junior 2010 – 2012. Cut in 2013 | 100% |
| 5 | 2009 | Morne Stassen | EG Jansen | Joined the Bulls after school | 0% |
| 6 | 2010 | Neil Jordaan | Grey College | Joined the Free State Cheetahs after school | 0% |
| 7 | 2010 | Brendan Olivier | Nico Malan | Joined the EP Kings after school | 0% |
| 8 | 2010 | Kagiso Segole | Kearsney | Went to study in the W/Cape after school | 0% |
| 9 | 2011 | Dries Swanepoel | Grey College | Joined the Bulls after school | 0% |
| 10 | 2011 | Ryan Germishuys | Selborne | Joined the Bulls after school | 0% |
| 11 | 2011 | Spho Msutwana | Dale College | At Academy for 2012. Joined EP Kings 2013- | 33% |
| 12 | 2012 | Siyabonga Tom | Glenwood | Disqualified. In NMMU Varsity Cup squad 2013 | 0% |
| 13 | 2012 | Nqoba Mxoli | Westville | Joined the Bulls after school | 0% |
| 14 | 2012 | Wion Robertse | Paarl Gim | Sharks u19 team of 2013 | 33% |
| 15 | 2013 | Rikus Bothma | Paarl Gim | Joined the WPRI after school | 0% |
| 16 | 2013 | Matt Reece-Edwards | Kearsney | Joined the WPRI after school | 0% |
| 17 | 2013 | SJ Roux | Boland Landbou | Joined the Free State Cheetahs after school | 0% |
| 18 | 2013 | Wandi Mazibuko | Glenwood | At the Sharks Academy | 100% |
| AVERAGE % | 25.89% |
@beet: Had the wonderfull opportunity to watch the last 3 games at st Johns on Saturday with two gentleman from the Sharks. Previously when asked where to go after school I suggested Potch or Bloem but I must admit the Sharks will also now be included.
1) They are not under any financial stress as their academy is currently having +/- 160 boys attending. U19 TO U21
2) When asked how do they identify talent I was astonished to hear this. “I look at his performance on the field. His commitment and where required his flair and ball sense.” Hip hip hooray not sitting with a tape and weights to see if he fits into the parameters set for a certain position. SIZE IS NOT THE ALFA AND OMEGA
3) If the boys are not selected for the underage Shark teams they are required to play club rugby. Another big hip hip hooray so nobody carry bags for a two year period without having much game time.
4) Nine coaches look after these boys and new talent is not shown the door because the budget is full.
I was pleasantly suprised.
THIS ADVERT WAS NOT PAID FOR AND MY SUBJECTIVITY IS NOT INFLUENCED BY BEING CONTRACTED BY THE SHARKS AT ALL
All the comments above this one were made in September 2013
@meadows: You hit the nail on the head. Let the Sharks first make a move and once they have tied a player to a contract, then offer the bursary. One would think that this is the most logical thing to do. Otherwise, who would want to hang around in Durban if he can play rugby in Bloem?
Local is lekker. I think if they looked primarily at Home grown talent from Westville,Glenwood and Kearsney, the convertion rate would be a lot higher. We need to keep our boys here with strong Varsities or Academy but the Cape has a serious pull with Maties and UCT as a desired destination. I think the boys must be serious when the question is put to them at the start of KERF. They should be genuine candidates with a view of joining the Sharks otherwise they take a boy’s position that would give his left nut to go to the academy.
Almost positive those 3 are on the Sharks books – heard that Schramm is already in training with the Sharks u19 team hence not playing 7’s – can anyone comment?
@Grasshopper: As far as I understand, Schramm and the Doops will be at the Sharks next year.
To lose Rickus Bothma is a tragedy! Best No8 in years, but if the Sharks can get Schramm they have a good 2nd option…
A contract from one of the major unions is far more important to a junior players success than a bursary to attend the Academy. If it were backed up by a Sharks contract I think that the success rates would be higher. That’s not to say that some of these bursary winners would not have been offered contracts.
If they aim for a better strike rate, with in my opinion probably a better long-term return, I would suggest they consider awarding these to some of the stand-out players at the BizSport Festival at Glenwood.
Really not so great. I wonder what the stats are for all players out the academy are? I know a lot are wannabes and do not have too much hope of an A-grade professional career – but are enjoying their passion while studying.
Not great, unless 25% is the pass required these days