Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Cricket is more than just a game for UWC’s ‘Bushies’
Varsity Cup darlings just the poster boys for a holistic life programme
Cricket writer ZAAHIER ADAMS charts the rise of UWC in varsity cricket champions – in the final, they had proven that they were young men who knew how to dig deep when it mattered.
And this is where Kock and the rest of the UWC management’s role in the team’s development shines through. Cricket is but the vehicle for the holistic development of young men and women at an institution that was the “home” of the nonracial South African Council of Sport (Sacos) during the years of apartheid.
Having grown from humble beginnings in 2000, when Kock gave up a prize to watch any Test match in the country for being awarded the Umpire of the Year for a scholarship for a deserving learner, the university and the SS4LS programme now assists up to 45 aspiring cricketers achieve tertiary education.
Funded by professor Johann Graaff ’s JAKS Trust, the LBW Trust from Australia and various other donors, the S4LS is not simply a “cricket bursary”.
In fact, there are students enlisted in the programme who are not even cricketers but are academically deserving of the financial support.
“At the beginning it was tough. Nobody wanted to buy into the programme. They thought I was spoiling the youngsters,” Kock said. “Angel Tordesillas, the group CEO of the Pescanova Group, sponsored a prize for the ‘WPCA Umpire of the Year’ at the time, which I won, and instead of being flown up to stay in a fancy hotel and watch a Test match, I approached him to replace the prize with a scholarship.
“We’ve grown exponentially since then through the generosity of Prof Johann Graaf and we now offer a full lifeskills programme in addition to monitoring the players’ nutrition intake and physical development.
“But it’s not just through funding that we’ve grown, but the commitment of people that have worked with us, like James Albanie (former Boland cricketer) that used to drive from Touws River to play with the youngsters when he could still have played provincial cricket. The hours that Chessy (UWC first-team manager Chezley Fortuin) and all the support staff put in is not always appreciated.”
Kock’s daily “cricket” schedule revolves around status meetings with his staff, checking in with the biokineticists and physiotherapists who attend to the players and keep them on track, and then going grocery shopping to ensure the players are able to follow a healthy diet.
In between, Kock nips off to the cricket oval to see how the on-field activities are coming along.
“Through experience, we’ve learnt that these young cricketers don’t only need technical skills and tutoring for class. A basic thing such as monitoring their nutrition is vitally important. We do the shopping ourselves and Chessy and his team ensure that they get sufficient fruit and vegetables and not just penny polonies. Their diet is very important,” Kock said.
“Gurshwin Rabie (former Cape Cobras and Warriors seamer) was basically the catalyst for our food and medical assistance programme. After receiving the correct nutrition and medical aid, his cricket improved significantly and he moved to franchise cricket within a short space of time.”
Rabie is part of a long list of cricketers who have gone through the system at UWC to play provincial and franchise cricket.
His fellow Oudsthoorn-born fast bowler Francois Plaatjies (Cobras) and Rowen Richards (Titans) also cut their teeth at the tertiary institution, while the roll of honour recently boasts players like former SA Under-19 international Jason Smith, as well as Aviwe Mgijima, Lesiba Ngoepe, Mpilo Njoloza, Lizaad Williams (all Cobras), while Hamza only missed out on a franchise debut recently due to illness on the morning of a Sunfoil Series match in Port Elizabeth.
A host of players like Rwanda- born Emmanuel Sebareme are also active domestic provincial players, in addition to the UWC graduates involved in a franchise team’s support staff such as Highveld Lions physiotherapist Craig Govender.
“The motive of the programme was never about winning. We want to be competitive, but the sole focus has never been about winning trophies,” Kock said. “The boys that you saw at Varsity Cup are no doubt the poster boys for our programme. The Hamzas and the Smiths of this world. There’s an argument that they come from the Rondeboschs’ and Wynbergs’, but they are playing alongside the Sebaremes that need all the assistance they can get.”
“Our focus will always remain to provide opportunities for students to improve their social well-being. There are many players in the second and third sides who, were it not for their cricket ability, would have not been able to attend university. Their development is critical to the success of the programme and not a trophy sitting locked up in my office.”