Youngsters find the perfect place to connect the dots

IN THE broader scheme of things, there is nothing remarkable about pre-teens Ilitha Ntinini and Akha Mjawelu enjoying their rugby.

It may pique your interest that the Khayelitsha pair yesterday debuted for the Western Province Under-12s.

What should make you sit up and take notice, however, is the fact that their rise taps squarely into the development debate of elite training over mass participation.

Not that they should be mutually exclusive.

Ntinini and Mjawelu are products of the Connect Sports Academy based in Khayelitsha and it is nothing short of a miracle that they so briskly graduated to the provincial ranks.

Flyhalf Ntinini took up the game at the academy’s inception two years ago, while flank Mjawelu started last year. “Ilitha has natural athleticism and talent and he has acumen for the game. Akha is the best fetcher I’ve seen in his age group,” said Murray Ingram, co-founder of the academy.

Ingram explains he and S’bu Momoti started the academy on a whim.

“We organised a mini-rugby tournament and Ilitha, or Mister, as he is called, was in that first bunch of kids,” he said. “When I saw him play, I think that convinced me to make a go of it.”

The academy is neither funded nor supported by traditional rugby structures. Whereas the academy focuses on developing individuals, traditional structures still have a missionary, spread the gospel approach.

“It is almost as if the broader rugby institutions are wilfully ignorant about what is required to really transform the landscape,” Ingram said. “They and the government have a problem implementing their broader mandate for mass participation because it doesn’t breed excellence.

“I understand the need to take the game to a lot of kids. Whether that is beneficial to the broader transformation agenda is another story.

“We have reached out and had a relatively good informal chat with SA Rugby a couple of weeks ago. Their academy model focuses on over-18s.

“They as well as the provinces rely on the schools system. The last Western Province Craven Week team was selected from seven schools.”

Upon being told of Mjawelu and Ntinini’s elevation to the provincial ranks, Western Province president Thelo Wakefield didn’t just commit to attending yesterday’s match, but digging into his pocket.

“We have what is called the IN FULL FLIGHT: Western Province Under-12 flank Akha Mjawelu is being touted as a precocious David Pocock of the Wallabies

It is almost as if the rugby institutions are ignorant about what is required to really transform the landscape

President’s Trust. If we identify pupils who show promise, who can be absorbed into our system, we can put them in a school of their choice and pay for their education,” promised Wakefield.

Ingram says he tries to steer clear of the politics in which sport entangles itself but recognises the value of building bridges.

“We can work on a cohesive plan involving the City of Cape Town and the rugby authorities and I believe it is feasible because there are enough kids who want to play.

“With Akha and Ilitha making WP, it kind of validates what we are doing. Suddenly we have two 12-year-olds who are among the top 44 players in the province,” Murray beamed.

Though the academy has its roots in Khayelitsha, it has attracted talent from around the Peninsula. Apart from developing remarkably resourceful rugby players, it has had a wider impact.

“At one level, it has been good for the kids to be out of the township and for them to be involved in social cohesion, for want of the better term,” said Murray.

“It really worked for the kids to play with privileged kids and be exposed to Cape Town.

“We want the kids to be comfortable navigating the city and that has been an incidental spin-off of what we are doing. The kids need to be comfortable to go to Bellville and practice twice a week. If we didn’t do what we had done earlier, they would really have been out of their depth culturally and socially.”

In a city that prides itself on the majesty of its mountain, the Connect Sports Academy is slowly facilitating an exodus from its shadows.