Political wrangling deals cruel blow to rugby teens

Ndlambe U16s, U18s ‘shattered’ by last-minute ousting from EP teams – hours before departure 

Four girls selected for the Eastern Province under-16 and under-18 girls’ rugby teams are devastated after being told the day before they were due to leave for a Youth Week tournament that they had been replaced. Their furious parents believe the decision to replace them is linked to ongoing power struggles for control of the EP Rugby Union and are demanding answers for the cruel blow that has left the girls “emotionally scarred”. 

The national girls’ rugby week was hosted at the University of Johannesburg from July 1 to July 5. 

Three of the girls selected for the junior squad are from Alexandria High School in Ndlambe.  A fourth is a former Alexandria High School learner who has since moved to Chatty High in Gqeberha. 

The two EP girls’ teams sidelined by the EP Rugby Union at the 11th hour had been selected following trials at various venues across the province. Parents had to cover all expenses, including transport costs. A total of 46 players was selected from various parts of the province.  

Following instructions from the union, the girls duly reported for a camp in Gqeberha on Thursday June 27. The two days of intensive training before their scheduled departure for Johannesburg on Saturday June 29 was entirely at their own expense. 

One of the parents, Natasha Gunn, who lives in Makhanda, said all the parents had been informed by EP officials to travel to Gqeberha on Friday June 28, where the squads were “in camp”.   

All the players had gathered at a Summerstrand, Gqeberha, venue. 

“We thought we were going to watch our children being capped and kitted out before leaving for Johannesburg,” Gunn said. “Instead, we were informed by one of the coaches that the entire squad had been withdrawn from the tournament and been replaced by another. 

“We were all shattered by the news. We are hurt and disappointed, not to mention our children,” said Gunn. 

The replacement team chosen by EP Rugby is a Youth Training Centre (YTC) team.  SARU’s YTC programme is hosted at six provincial unions, including Eastern Province. According to SARU, its objective is to grow the base of women’s players in the country and prepare them from a young age for the demands of rugby. A June 1 post on the SARU website indicates that it had recently launched the EP Rugby hosted YTC at the NMU Missionvale campus. 

EP Rugby confirmed that the original girls’ squad of 46 players [u16s and u18s] sanctioned and signed off by EP High Schools Rugby Association acting president, Valery Witbooi, had been scrapped and replaced by the YTC side.   

Witbooi said she had been at the Craven Week in Krugersdorp when she heard news that the U16 and U18 teams she had signed off on for the girls’ week had been replaced with another squad. 

“I was livid and I had difficulty keeping my emotions in check,” she told Talk of the Town.   

Sources have since revealed that the girls’ teams had been removed from Saru’s “Footprint” computer system after being loaded as per the union’s protocols. The footprint programme is an integrated administrative software system that assists in building a comprehensive player database and maintains vital information and statistics on players as they progress through the ranks. 

“We are under the jurisdiction of the SA High Schools Rugby Association and its constitution states that the high schools structure (EP Schools Rugby Association) is mandated to select the schools’ teams and the EPRU should not get involved,” said Witbooi. 

“This situation is very sad and has left the girls emotionally scarred,” said Witbooi. She said EPSRA had written a letter to Saru about the controversy and were demanding answers from them. 

Witbooi said players, parents, school principals, coaches and rugby officials had travelled to Cillie High in Gqeberha on June 11 where the squads were supposed to have been unveiled at a capping ceremony.  

“However that couldn’t go ahead because a crowd protesting the squad make-up and backing  YTC players disrupted the occasion,” she said.