Triple financial boost for UWC, Fort Hare
The University of Western Cape (UWC) and Fort Hare, both of whom are pressing hard for FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International qualification, were handed a welcome cash injection this week.
Both university’s rugby clubs were handed a whopping R450,000 in a joint, equal three-way effort by their local top university structures, the South African Rugby Union (SARU) and the Varsity Cup, with each institution donating R150,000.
Such a significant cash boost will be worth its weight in gold for two such proud, and historic rugby institutions, with Varsity Cup Managing Director Duitser Bosman saying: “The Varsity Cup organising committee are committed to driving this project as much as possible.
“Both UWC and Fort Hare have proud rugby histories and we’d love nothing more than both universities benefiting from this cash boost and, as a result, pushing hard for Varsity Cup qualification in the not too distant future.
“Myself and Mervyn Green (SA Rugby’s manager of youth rugby) were both at UWC on Monday evening, at a function to celebrate the news, whilst we travelled to Alice earlier on Tuesday to witness Mike Stofile give a great speech and announce the cash boost for Fort Hare.
“UWC rector, Prof O’Connell also gave a fantastic speech on Monday,” added Bosman, “(and) it’s great for us to see the excitement and determination amongst those universities to make it into the Varsity Cup.”
Mervyn Green added: “SARU have made a request to help deliver rugby to the likes of UWC and Fort Hare and we, as Varsity Cup representatives, were more than happy to comply.
“It was a privilege witnessing the genuine excitement and appreciation from both universities and also an honour to be able to speak on behalf of Varsity Cup to explain just why we are giving money to these two great universities.”
Fort Hare were involved in last year’s Varsity Cup promotion/relegation match against Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), whilst UWC – according to Ilhaam Groenewald, the Head of Sports Administration at UWC – will be looking to emulate fellow Cape-based teams, Stellenbosch and UCT, by making it into the Varsity Cup.
“I often describe the Maties as the ‘monster’ of rugby,” Groenewald told varsitycup.co.za, “there is just so much one could learn from simply playing in the same tournament as them.
“It’s always been our aim to push for inclusion in the 2010 Varsity Cup and a cash injection of this kind can only help us achieve that,” added Groenewald.
“(But) the best thing about this financial boost is that all the money will go to the players, which means a bigger and better rugby experience for them. It’s not just about the money, it’s about the players benefiting and the university being able to achieve those goals we set ourselves a while ago.”
