I was touched by a sad story today. Basically a boy attends a school for four years, represents their A-team in the junior age-groups. He works his butt off to fulfil a four year long dream of playing for the first team in his fifth and final year. Now just days before the first term is about to start he finds out that his school has just-just recruited a brand new highly rated player in his position. This new guy will probably start ahead of him. Hopefully this has a happy ending somehow but for now the dream of a good kid filled with lots of school spirit is potentially crushed. Even after trying to see the big picture here I felt a lot of irritation about the situation and I sympathise with the parent. This kind of thing might just be isolated incident for now but who’s to say it’s not about to become the new normal in school rugby with recruits arriving in Grades 11 and 12.
Choose to ignore it if you like but the reality is that schools are starting to go to extremes to ensure they have a good first team. And it’s not just the schools, it’s the rugby unions as well. The provinces are slowly starting to subscribe to the notion that in order to secure the services of a promising youngster for rugby after school, he has to be in a school in that RU’s region.
I’ve share a lot of my own semi far-fetched ideas about the future like salary earning schoolboy rugby players and Rugby Unions forming official partnerships with certain schools to look after their own professional senior rugby recruitment interests and worse still RU’s using their influence to make Craven Week promises to recruits. But now I’d like to get your thought on this matter. Where do you realistically see schoolboy rugby heading in the future? There will always be a game on the field but is there a tipping point off the pitch? A point reached beyond which schools put the brakes on, finally deciding that it’s time to separate the academic institution from the professional sport body. I’m talking another far-fetched idea here: the formation of specialised schools just for sportsmen. What are your thoughts?
@Gungets Tuft:
Yeah Super-Mom ey… Just have to wait till Wednesday to see how our little ‘uns are going to be. Know of very good kids coming and two 1st rugby players from Prep, very good players and well-mannered lads in general.(Coleman and Kuhlane)
I think Westville has hit the jackpot though, quality going there is huge.
@HORSEFLY NO.1: Don’t know about that, I thought there were 11 coming to College, now nine. Just know Super-Mom was on a recruiting (see undermining) mission. Cannae (Scottish for cannot … don’t mind me) give a rats, people must go where they like, fickle is a curse…
Hilton lured a good kid, Smit from DPHS, 1st rugby player. Good luck to them, for reasons I will only ever discuss in person …
@Gungets Tuft:
Which two boys did Kearsney poach that were initially coming to DHS. Wonder how many DHS Old Boys have kids elsewhere…
@Gungets Tuft:
Which two boys did Kearsney poach that were initially coming to DHS
@Gungets Tuft: 8)
@star: He is indeed. Another talented kid in Gr9 this year is also a WOB’s son, on the Kallis scholarship. Not to worry, they are very loyal Old Boys, and also very loyal College parents. We ensure they take their bi-polar medication on match days. I will have to up my order this year, I suspect at least another 2 WOBs will need it, plus one or two others …
College Old Boys from my year sending their boys to Hilton … sies …
@NW_Knight: So there is dissention in the ranks at Westville? Interesting. It must be quite serious if boys want to leave en masse. Hope they manage to sort it out. It’s not good for the boys or SBR.
@ Gungets- Is the boy from Merchiston the son of a WOB. If so I will have to speak to Mr W.
@Gungets Tuft:
Good intake with the 1st two being the cream of the crop. Thought J.Bennett and T.Shandu were going to College.
What’s Cannae?
@GreenBlooded: Yeah, I know that, but I have seen some of the boys, there is size enough for the meanwhile among the boarders. This is about 1/3 of the Gr8’s so the law of averages …
High hopes for this year.
@HORSEFLY NO.1: Cannae know the DHS boys names, DPHS boys are Brad Hope, Nicolas Pio, Ryan Spring, Samuel Jordan, Mathew Crampton, Mazwi Shabalala, Reece Wiggill, Simon Huinink, Caidan Mclennan. From Merchiston is Daniel Ward who also appeared on the Hilton scholarship list but who’s brother is in Gr10 at College this year. A good number of Highway, Ballito kids and then the hard men from Ixopo, Creighton, Matatiele, Underberg etc all present. By all reports a fantastic mood at the “check in” yesterday – looks great for 2013.
@Gungets Tuft:
You know, instead of giving me these clues you could just e-mail me. Its not like I can/want to stop them. You could also give me the DHS names too …
@Greenblooded: Boys were unhappy at Westville for a variety of reasons. All were either U15 or U16 last year. The fact that they wanted to come to Northwood had nothing to do with Swys – it was more a case of wanting to leave Westville. I suspect they may have also applied at other schools after Northwood.
@Gungets Tuft: SIze is definately an issue at U13/U14 level and becomes less on an issue as you go up the age groups. 8 years of coaching kids tells me this. Kids are VERY consious and VERY intimidated by a much bigger team. The first thing you hear from juniors when they look across the field at their opposition warming up is “Jeez – look how big they are – we are gonna get killed”. For a school U14 group to have big kids is a major bonus – fitness and skills can be taught far easier than kids can be made bigger. This is particularly true of the tight 5 although the new scrum laws may negate that to some extent – we will have to see.
@All, well it seems all the bloggers are indicating good intakes for their schools so their must be tons of Under14 sporting talent out there, will make for interesting match ups and results. There are still going to be those days where the coaches line up all the boys never having played rugby and asking them to run to see how quick they are and then looking at their build and slotting them into prop, lock, flank or backline…..I still remember the first day of rugby, all us Bluff boys having never played rugby getting slotting in allsorts of positions. Funny enough by matric 5 or 6 of us played 1st team, showing that you don’t have to be great in grade 8 to be good by matric. We got smashed by the Westville dream team in 1992 by 47-0 and lost by a point in matric due to a controversial call…
@Gungets Tuft: good for College i am glad
@GreenBlooded: i think you have the right answer , now that Swys is leaving applications stop and rejected
@NW_Knight: why they didnt last year
@GreenBlooded: Ye thats interesting
@HORSEFLY NO.1: The DPHS boys for College this year have started, off on their orientation weekend. Looks like a great boarder intake, including some real Merchiston talent and a few others from Kloof, Highbury, Westville and Durban North that are going to do College proud in the next 5 years. A few size kids in there (even though I am not a big worrier about size) – it’s going to be a good year, just need to get the kids working as a team, always the challenge where the bulk of the top teams are boarders who have never played together.
If you want to know the DPHS boys, check out the Patter – pay attention to the Top 10 cricket boys
8)
Might be a few surprises in grade 9 as well ….
Welcome to the 2013 school year – guess it will be a week or two till the day-boy schools show their hands.
@GreenBlooded:
Last time I heard it was 3 boys and its possible both ways.Doesn’t matter though because Northwood doesn’t need them IMO.(Rugby-wise)
I do think that your story is more likely though. For me N’Wood have to fix their U14’s of 2012. They were smacked by all the top schools this year
@HORSEFLY NO.1: I’d buy that if it were an isolated case but “quite a few” Westville Boys unhappy at Westville and applying to Northwood just doesn’t make sense to me. Durban North is not Westvilles main catchment area so again I doubt it is a case of “quite a few” boys moving closer to home. My guess is that it had a lot to do with Swys – if so their rejection by NW ended up quite fortuitous for them.
@GreenBlooded:
Not sure but I think Star mentioned that it had to do with some unhappiness. Northwood might be the closest school to home or the attration of playing in a good team( their U15 of 2012).
If it had to do with indiscipline at WBHS it would make sense why N’Wood has declined.
@NW_Knight. Why not share your views? How many is quite a few?
@HORSEFLY NO.1: Why would they do that? Unhappy at Westville or something attracting them to NW and other schools? Don’t get it.
They probably applied to a host of schools .
@NW_Knight: I have a good idea too – but it has become moot due to changed circumstances.
@Greenblooded: No idea (or rather, I have an idea but will share it with you when I next see you).
@NW_Knight: I’m curious as to why “quite a few” boys from WBHS would be applying for admission to NW?
@Westers: Absolutly 100%. Other than Gr8’s, the only rugby player from within KZN comes from a minor school in the Midlands (and he approached Northwood).
@Horsey: Not far off. U15’s might surprise you.
@NW_Knight. Are you saying there are no boys at Northwood in 2013 who were at Westville in 2012. My apologies if my information is incorrect.
@Westers: Like I said, all boys who applied (and there were quite a few) were turned down. Northwood doesn’t need any more props.
@NW_Knight. Kid who played U16 prop in 2012.
@BOG: i couldn’t agree more, you have so many point that are just so right , in addition too much emphasis is put into the school games, and this will close and narrow as boys are poached /recruited more and more
Again as you stated unstainable
@Green Hopper:
why you say so?
u14- NW_Knight said they had a good group coming in
U15- smoked
U16- good side
opens- some good recruits
= good year IMO
@HORSEFLY NO.1: they are going to get smoked????
@BOG: Sorry, still asleep- Should read “acknowledge that we have egos”
The first thing we need to do, is that we have egos, some more so than others. With such an interest in SBR, they are playing in front of thousands. They are just the manne among the girls, no matter how ugly they are. They are on a high. After school, they suddenly find themselves playing at empty stadiums, even at provincial level. We can see this on TV. And to deny that this has an impact on the kids motivation, is denying reality. Then we get the late developers- the ones who kicked into gear only after school. For those, we use to have a very healthy club system, and playing at provincial level, remained a possibility and motivation. For those and also the very talented players at school, who were overlooked for a range of reasons, quotas being just one, its almost certain, goebaai Meraai- game/chance over. Despite the efforts being made to resuscitate club rugby, we are no where near what it use to be and to be realistic, I dont think that it will ever get there again. Just one of the reasons why I believe that professional rugby, in the long term, is not sustainable.
@NW_Knight:
How are things currently looking like at Northwood for the new rugby year across all age groups??
@Westers: “to replace one who was poached by Northwood”? I think you need to get up to speed with what’s happening before making those uninformed comments. Northwood has turned down all the Westville boys that have approached them so far, so not sure which boys you’re talking about.
@Greenhopper, hows this for a theory, the boys at 1st team level are playing too much, get burn out, start to hate the game and try other things. It happened to me in swimming, was over trained and started hating swimming so tried cricket. I personally think 20 plus games in a season is too much for still growing boys. There is also far too much pressure to win and I think a few kids are played whilst still injured. I too would get gatvol, lose my passion for the sport and try something else. Also it only natural that boys let loose after school so probably sport drops off the radar for a few years and they get lost in the system…….just a thought…
@Westers: We need to look at what effect this will have, ask yourself what Is causing these boys to leave and not play after school, well simple, boys are being selected at school, I would rather have these players put into a HP type set up and not be so definitive as “they are the selected few” too much talent and simple growth and physical maturity is not being considered, experience and game time, remembering that the 1st teams players get double the amount of game time, hence the calibre of game they play is expected to be better, I have seen for myself , boys that in grade 10 who were at school at best C and D team players , play a season of Club Rugby , and put an addition 8 – 10 games below their belt s, come out the following year at school and player in higher teams,
Just look at the boys that play club and where they stand at school participation level , yes there is good coaching , but lots has to do with game time, experience as well
So for me , we lose boys after school, because they believe things are predetermined, and then clubs can’t get teams,
We then also have KZN rugby only limiting u19 and u20 rugby to Premier division sides , this squeezes participation and normally filled with contracted players that come out the schools 1st teams etc ,
This is an area that needs to change, but there exist to many Old Fat cats in the system, whom draw money out of the Union rather than develop these, levels of rugby , one just needs to look at the grants given to 2nd 3rd and 4th division Club, the Union is for ever seeking Sponsors etc., but profiteering and political agendas are rife here, and until the Union stands for the Players and not the Exco members etc , we will continue to see the slide
@PlayFlair: i must say , i honestly don’t know all the schools intimately and might be off the track, but I think Michael House and College are perhaps the two that stand out in terms of playing or doing things more or less how they have always conducted business,
I was all for GW until last 2011 and it seems things have steadily got worse, whether they actually go out and recruit I am not sure, I used to vehemently defend this position for 2011 resulting for the start of issues in 2010, but 2011 and the arrival of Warren and Marne couldn’t be defended any more, included in this would have to be that from a very reliable source , and I mean very, Warren Dad approached Sean and that’s how he arrived, Marne was slightly different , he simply just couldn’t get into the teams in the Vaal, area , and was only 9th , what strikes me as a surprise is his selection and inclusion when he could only get to that level ? but time will tell.
I think DHS are being true to the cause
Hilton , GW , NW , Kearsney seem to be those that are blatantly trading contracts with kids ( parents) and if you look at the coaches here , they all have strong connections with the Sharks , so go figure ,
But of all so far MH are probably the purist of the bunch and its showing, just look at the team of 2012 , yes they have up year sand low years, but I think in-house they are now looking at training the coaches and these are teachers , they might expand this to fitness and break the rule of no preseason , once this is done they will become more competitive
Hey this just my view
@Green Hopper: which schools do you believe is on the right track when you say ‘traditions’?
@Green Hopper. You so right. It is sad to see how little club rugby there is compared to schools. The number of boys that give up rugby after school is staggering. Such a pity.
@Westers: i believe that the boys play harder when they have more of a bond with the school and his mates, I believe that school boy rugby should be “hands off “ to this type of blatant professionalism, its exploitation of the boys and does club rugby the next few years out of school, no good, as the Provinces are picking from this level and the boys who mature later after school are lost , it can be seen by the boys in grades 8 and 9 in the A teams because they matured sooner, seem to fade, not all but some, now if we left school to school , Club would proposer as more boys would also want to play , some for fun and some to promote themselves, but the way it is structured now , it all stops or most of it at Matric , because of the interfering influence and this what we seem is becoming more and more prevalent, to say and take the approach well that’s the way it sis , is superficial and doing our rugby no favours , Rugby will be limited to a few “super” schools, and the rest will disappear and the boys in these schools will stop playing in the next few years , which are the most important as I have noted above
@Green Hopper: Happens all the time
@Green Hopper, I agree with your comments. Even in professional sports, a team brought together does not often perform at their optimum in the first year – and sometimes longer. A schoolboy team built around a four year friendship will always have a better spirit.
Regarding recruitment, I know Westville have brought in one boy right at the end of Grade 10 to replace one who was poached by Northwood. The boy was at Westville initially in G8 but left because there was no bursary. Now he has been offered one.
Like you, I don’t agree with it. Westville should have relied on their depth – even if it was slightly weaker.
@Queenian: how many times have we seen this , also how often has the selected and best u19 or 20 or whatever played a team as a preparation match and nearly or have lost , i am sure there exists plenty of examples of this
@Green Hopper: Ye that is correct sometimes a team made of stars that dont know each other does not get anywere and some teams just do well on team spirit built up over years
@PlayFlair: you are right NW night is doing exactly that as it is his personal agenda, lol
@BOG: Again agreed , there will be this , but it is suspicious when all of a sudden three guys arrive ? that is not bonifide that is recruitment , and NW has advertised that they are on about this path and they aren’t the only ones, Hilton are on the path , we have professional coaches and soon we will have professional players at school level , disguise it how you want but that it , I predict that you will find soon a school will emerge that will go against this and will be based on the old traditions , and the team will be players and not individuals
@beet: agreed , but we need to remember that we have discussed this last year and if we don’t learn from previous ( history) it will be broken , and we will again be discussing this issue next year
@Grasshopper: grassy and beet , You might recall that on rugby 365 I became quiet verbal about this issue this time last year , when these guys came into Glenwood, so far as to openly say that my son was personally affected by these actions, I sympathize with these parents , whilst i am still a vehement supporter of Glenwood, the issues I raised on 365 , didn’t do my son any favors as he was victimized by this , of this I am now completely sure of , the use of kids as pawns {edited} are beyond despicable,
My own experience is that {edited} when he was confronted by the evidence, its funny how he can say so much to boys at school have no alternative but to answer in the affirmative ,
But this type of action and the Road that Northwood are now embarking on will only bring short term success , as the heart of the school, will fall by the way side in the rush for the 1st team to succeed at all costs, what must be remembered it is team players and not individuals that make great teams and especially school boy first teams, and 9 times out of 10 its the school mates that they have grown with supporting them that pulls them through , GW didn’t have this last year and the results reflected this , boys with school mates tend to do the unbelievable that can turn a game, the likes of Warren and Marne didn’t add that , IMHO
I think Glenwood only got Van Zyl from DHS and the KZN Development No8 last year, forgot his name but only time wil tell. Great result for the Glenwood 1st team cricket yesterday at the Grey PE fest; http://www.schoolsportsnews.co.za/cricket/grey-high-fest-day-one/
@PlayFlair:
Yes it will be interesting. I know that DHS hasn’t bought any open players though. Maybe one or two in the lower age groups but not opens.
The most interesting team to look out for will definitely be Northwood…
@PlayFlair: You mean “arrived during the second part of 2012” .. on paper that is, to circumvent the Headmasters Agreement.
I guess we could see some schools with a few sudden vacancies in their fixture list then. More episodes designed to get around the agreement will go down like a lead balloon.
Well, DHS and most other schools wont, thats the point. If your school is not part of ‘the vision’ then it might be so much more challenging in the future. It might be interesting to see stats on how many boys, playing open rugby in 2013, arrived at KZN schools during the second part of 2012.
@PlayFlair:
Both schools? How exactly is DHS going to benefit here?
@Greenblooded, But he doesn’t choose the national team, he cannot offer them academy places or tuition after school and he cannot guarantee them a place on any team – or even hint at it. If they swim the times they make the team – colour excluded. If you believe this is equivalent to what Glenwood (and now Northwood) are doing with the Sharks then you really do have blinkers on?
@BOG: Would have rather had this Fortuin kid go to GB and some Pretoria school i could have lived with that.
@BOG: Ye you right there, his mom is origanlly from Tarkastad were all the good people are from.
@rugbyfan: Yes, I know that and it was explained many times over, but some who are stubbornly hard at hearing, especially those who indulge in too much Red Heart,. If Jan Serfontein was “bought”, they then also did buy his family. I believe that his mother was a teacher at Eunice.@Queenian: Your question is purely academic-if he had gone to EL, the question could have been reversed. Or perhaps Clarendon Girls could not match Eunices salary for his mother(LOL) Or maybe Epol in Bloem sponsored his dogs food
@rugbyfan: I will give GB there due there interactions with us have always being good and decent even with this lastest issue.
@BoishaaiPa: @rugbyfan: Yes rugbyfan you know Bully Serfontein so do i, and to say that rugby had nothing to do with the move is a bit rich i think why did he not move to East London then.
@BoishaaiPa: I am in no way saying that GB does not activily recruit boys that they do i am just saying in this case it was not the reason for the move. If you look at what Queenian said even this kid who has just left Queens was approached by GB but i think this was sorted out in the correct manner.
@rugbyfan: Yep..you keep on believing that…
@Westers: How about a national swimming coach that aligns himself with a school?
@NW_Knight. No one is saying anything about his ability to coach. The fact he is part of the Sharks setup is the issue. Has he resigned from his post with the Sharks? If not, Playfair is 100% correct. It is not helping KZN SBR that the Sharks align themselves with one or two schools.
@Playfair: You couldn’t be further from the truth. Anyone who knows Donald will agree he is a very good coach.
@BOG: I know Jan Serfontein snr personelly and he did not move his son to Grey Bloem for rugby it was because of a business deal so anybody who thinks Grey Bloem poached him is far off the target in actual fact he had two offers for work the one was Bloem the other East London in that case he would have gone to Selborne so there it is in Black and White
The talk is that the new appointment at NW is largely due to the fact that The Sharks want another school where they can place players. It sadly seems that Zn coach is correct; ego’s are killing the game. Both schools will apparently benifit from this approach this season.
There will always be bona fide exceptions where a breadwinner is transferred to the location involved. The well know example, are the parents of Jan Serfontein who moved to Bloemfontein from PE when he was in Gr 10 and consequently GCB was accused of poaching/buying. Transferring from schools within the same centre/city/town, is altogether another matter
Great article Beet, I think the points you have made are very valid, I do think however a lot of this nonsense is fueled by us( by us I mean old boys of schools) we want to see our school do well compete and have bragging rights and with that pressure gets mounted on schools, gone are the days when you went to the local high school in your area now its all about scholarships, what choices do boys schools have if they don’t “shop”? When a schools reputation lives and dies with the 1st XV results, 2 examples are DHS and NW, in my opinion are good schools but get looked down on cause they struggled over the years to produce the results old boys want.
I to feel for boys that lose out on a potential 1stXV spot when a bought in player takes his spot but I can assure you that the mom and dad of that boy will be the first ones moaning when the teams not winning, so in my opinion it is a lose /lose situation.
What can we do about it? I don’t actually know, but you are right that boys within 5 years will be getting “extra” money unless something is done
JJ is last year’s news guys. This is current. No one leaving just arriving. The motive was not to point a finger at any specific school or go into history but rather to find out where this is all taking us. For the record, KZN is not the only region where there is recruiting or union involvement with schools.
@Grasshopper: Pretty sure that is exactly who is being reffered to. Obvious to me after the second line.
@Grasshopper: Agree with you there if you going to bring in kids do it at Grade 8 level.
@Beet, this exact case happened at Glenwood. JJ Pretorious a certainty for 1st team hears of Marne Coetzee an SA Schools prop from another province arriving. He gets gatvol and leaves. Maybe he should have stayed to prove he was actually the better player, but methinks certain bursaries include assurances of playing time or being picked so he and his family thought bugger this. A good talent is now lost. Just imagine how the 2nd team scrumhalf at Hilton thought about Camron Wright’s arrival or the fullback about Calvin Smith. What about poor Makasi at Glenwood with Potgieters arrival. These imports do more harm and disrupt the balance of a team built up for a few years. Learn from Glenwood’s mistakes and do not recruit past grade 10….simple. With regards to the future, it’s either going to go the way of a draft system or sporting academies or if headmasters act now and put an end to it remain a schools sport with traditions etc…..I hope it stays amateur and leave professionalism for boys outside of school…
Ye i agree with on this were will this take us i do think schools are going over board just to be good and do not think of the boys are already there. Maybe the push just to be good will actually be the downfall of some schools