Kearsney Festival boosts Sharks
No fewer than 70 boys have been selected to join the Sharks Academy from the past four Easter Rugby Festivals hosted by Kearsney College, with three of these players also already having progressed to the SA Sevens and the Sharks senior squads.
According to Hans Scriba, the Managing Director of the Sharks Academy, the festival has provided a quality base of top schoolboy players from which to recruit good players from throughout the country into the Academy.
Scriba said: “This ultimately boosts Sharks and SA rugby in the long term.
“Since the first Easter rugby festival at Kearsney College four years ago, the quality of the Academy’s intake has improved significantly.
“The four festivals have provided a massive boost – both in numbers as well as in the calibre of players – and the quality of schools now participating in this festival is world-class.”
The 2012 festival has attracted the strongest and most impressive line-up, with powerhouse teams from Grey College in Bloemfontein, Affies from Pretoria, Monument from Krugersdorp and EG Jansen from Boksburg; as well as Selborne, Dale and Queen’s Colleges from the Eastern Cape. Paarl Gymnasium and Stellenbosch’s Paul Roos represent the Western Cape; with Glenwood, festival newcomers Westville Boys’ High and hosts Kearsney College from KwaZulu-Natal.
Scriba said that several rugby pundits rated Grey College from Bloemfontein as arguably the best rugby school in the world, and there were several other participating schools not far behind.
Three scholarships, comprising a contract with the Sharks Academy and tuition bursary with Varsity College, will be awarded at the end of the festival.
Talent scouts from the Sharks and the Sharks Academy watch all three play days (5, 7 and 9 April), to hand pick the cream for their next crop.
Players from the festival who have subsequently been selected to the Academy and then for the Sharks as well the Springbok Sevens team are S’bura Sithole from Queen’s College in Queenstown, Lubabalo (Terror) Mtembu from Dale College in King William’s Town and Paul Jordaan from Grey College in Bloemfontein.
Festival organiser Taff Green said in five years the festival at Kearsney has grown in stature and is now seen as the country’s top schools rugby festival played over Easter. It offers players a wonderful opportunity of testing their skill against the best in the game.
Green said rugby has become a realistic career opportunity for many and a festival such as this is an ideal springboard for players to show their skill and flair for the game.
Most players who join the Academy also study simultaneously through Varsity College and other tertiary institutions, ensuring that they have the knowledge and qualifications necessary to ensure their continued success beyond their sporting careers.
Carole Adam, national sports and social manager at Varsity College, said: “Obtaining a tertiary qualification is important to their successful careers.
“The discipline required to excel on the sports field is the same discipline required when studying, resulting in a healthy and balanced lifestyle.”
By Sue Miles (Working Words cc)
