Golden Lions get a Factory
Rugby academies are popular in many parts of the rugby world to take players from school into the professional game with improved skills and appropriate lifestyles.
The Lions Master Coach Rugby Factory, to give it its full name, is the brainchild of two former coaches at Hoërskool Monument, a top rugby school. They are Hans Coetzee and Stefan Lourens, whose nickname is Botter.
They have done their homework, investigating other academies, as at the Sharks and the Blue Bulls, and they have developed a business plan which has been approved by Bart Schoeman of HP & Contracting and by members of the Golden Lions – Swys de Bruyn, Victor Matfield, JP Ferreira, Ivan van Rooyen, Pieter Visser, the manager of amateur rugby and all the junior coaches at the union. They were all supportive and then, most importantly, they needed the approval if Rudolf Straeuli who gave it immediately. A contract was signed early in December and the Rugby Factory is ready for its first intake, the class of 2018.
The staff make the project attractive, Apart from Hans Coetzee and Stefan Lotter, there are Jaque Fourie, the great Springbok threequarter in 72 Tests, a winner at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Julian Redelinghuys, the Springbok prop, threequarter Alwyn Hollenbach, who was four times in a team that won the Currie Cup and Pietie Meyer, a former Lions scrumhalf.
There are three legs to their programme:
1. Under-9 – Under-13
2. Under-14 – Under-18
3. School Leavers
The first two groups will have two two-hour sessions a week.
The school leavers will have a 10-month programme, from February to November in 2018.
In addition the project will also run clinics at schools for coaches and players.
Website: www.mastercoachrugbyfactory.co.za
APP in the APP STORE (Whole Program) for more details. The APP is FREE. In the APP STORE SEARCH just type in "LIONS Master Coach RUGBY FACTORY"
Launch: the Master Coach Rugby Factory will be launched at Laerskool Kenmare in Krugersdorp at 15.00 on 26 January 2018.
