Campaign to boost rugby

Unification club Harlequins’ ‘Let’s Rugga’ aims to boost the sport at many levels

PORT Elizabeth Harlequins Rugby Club have planned a campaign to ensure the sport flourishes in their area, kicking off with the Easter Rugby Tournament at the Adcock Stadium next weekend.

The event, which will incorporate a club and a schools’ section, aims to become one of the largest amateur tournaments in the country, and will launch the club’s Let’s Rugga campaign.

Harlequins president Godfrey Vital outlined the basic theme behind the concept.

“Let’s Rugga is a campaign to encourage youth participation at grassroots level in sports, specifically rugby,” Vital said.

“The project’s primary objective is to reduce or eliminate the obstacles our youth face to enable them to partici- pate in rugby. “It aims to assist schools and sports organisations in attaining resources, skills and facilities for rugby development.”

The campaign will launch at the Easter Rugby Tournament, with teams from schools in Nelson Mandela Bay invited to take part.

Let’s Rugga will host a series of events and activities during the year, including tournaments at high and primary school level, and coaching clinics for players and coaches. Other activities will include workshops and inviting scouts to identify talented players.

Having been in existence for more than two decades, Harlequins are keen to make a major impact on the sport.

Harlequins were an outcome of the unification process in the South African rugby fraternity that started in the early 1990s. The idea was that former SA Rugby Union clubs would amalgamate as a unified club to compete with the stiff competition coming from other federations.

Harlequins players are largely drawn from the northern areas and townships.

Since starting out in 1992, Harlequins have delivered a number of top-class players from the rugby development structures that have been put in place by the club’s coaching staff and management.

Players of the calibre of Allister Coetzee, Ricardo Loubscher and Deon Kayser all emerged from the club’s ranks, indicating how much talent ex- ists in those areas.

The club have clear goals for achieving their objectives, including:

ý To recruit new players on an ongoing basis, identified through a recruiting process specifically aimed at players from previously disadvantaged communities;

ý To revive the production of top quality players like Coetzee, Kayser and Loubscher;

ý To expand the support base of the club through holding community-based events;

ý To equip the club with specialised equipment to groom and prepare players for the next level of rugby;

ý To ensure that the club meets the development objectives by initiating projects to stimulate participation in rugby.