Ndlambe U16s, U18s ‘shattered’ by last-minute ousting from EP teams – hours before departure
Four girls selected for the Eastern Province under-16 and under-18 girls’ rugby teams are devastated after being told the day before they were due to leave for a Youth Week tournament that they had been replaced. Their furious parents believe the decision to replace them is linked to ongoing power struggles for control of the EP Rugby Union and are demanding answers for the cruel blow that has left the girls “emotionally scarred”.
The national girls’ rugby week was hosted at the University of Johannesburg from July 1 to July 5.
Three of the girls selected for the junior squad are from Alexandria High School in Ndlambe. A fourth is a former Alexandria High School learner who has since moved to Chatty High in Gqeberha.
The two EP girls’ teams sidelined by the EP Rugby Union at the 11th hour had been selected following trials at various venues across the province. Parents had to cover all expenses, including transport costs. A total of 46 players was selected from various parts of the province.
Following instructions from the union, the girls duly reported for a camp in Gqeberha on Thursday June 27. The two days of intensive training before their scheduled departure for Johannesburg on Saturday June 29 was entirely at their own expense.
One of the parents, Natasha Gunn, who lives in Makhanda, said all the parents had been informed by EP officials to travel to Gqeberha on Friday June 28, where the squads were “in camp”.
All the players had gathered at a Summerstrand, Gqeberha, venue.
“We thought we were going to watch our children being capped and kitted out before leaving for Johannesburg,” Gunn said. “Instead, we were informed by one of the coaches that the entire squad had been withdrawn from the tournament and been replaced by another.
“We were all shattered by the news. We are hurt and disappointed, not to mention our children,” said Gunn.
The replacement team chosen by EP Rugby is a Youth Training Centre (YTC) team. SARU’s YTC programme is hosted at six provincial unions, including Eastern Province. According to SARU, its objective is to grow the base of women’s players in the country and prepare them from a young age for the demands of rugby. A June 1 post on the SARU website indicates that it had recently launched the EP Rugby hosted YTC at the NMU Missionvale campus.
EP Rugby confirmed that the original girls’ squad of 46 players [u16s and u18s] sanctioned and signed off by EP High Schools Rugby Association acting president, Valery Witbooi, had been scrapped and replaced by the YTC side.
Witbooi said she had been at the Craven Week in Krugersdorp when she heard news that the U16 and U18 teams she had signed off on for the girls’ week had been replaced with another squad.
“I was livid and I had difficulty keeping my emotions in check,” she told Talk of the Town.
Sources have since revealed that the girls’ teams had been removed from Saru’s “Footprint” computer system after being loaded as per the union’s protocols. The footprint programme is an integrated administrative software system that assists in building a comprehensive player database and maintains vital information and statistics on players as they progress through the ranks.
“We are under the jurisdiction of the SA High Schools Rugby Association and its constitution states that the high schools structure (EP Schools Rugby Association) is mandated to select the schools’ teams and the EPRU should not get involved,” said Witbooi.
“This situation is very sad and has left the girls emotionally scarred,” said Witbooi. She said EPSRA had written a letter to Saru about the controversy and were demanding answers from them.
Witbooi said players, parents, school principals, coaches and rugby officials had travelled to Cillie High in Gqeberha on June 11 where the squads were supposed to have been unveiled at a capping ceremony.
“However that couldn’t go ahead because a crowd protesting the squad make-up and backing YTC players disrupted the occasion,” she said.
Fresh trials
EP Rugby Union’s Provincial Affairs head, Freddi Makoki, who sits on the EPRU executive, however claimed that Witbooi was not in a position to have sanctioned the teams after the trials.
“We called a meeting with the YTC and school rugby structures [after the teams had been chosen] as instructed by Saru but the schools [EPSRA} did not attend this meeting. Here it was decided to call for fresh trials to select the two girls’ teams for Youth Week,” said Makoki.
Witbooi confirmed that EPSRA had not been present at the meeting but said she had informed the union that her absence had been on her lawyer’s advice. She questioned Makoki’s claim that the meeting had been sanctioned by Saru.
“It was not,” she said.
A South Eastern Districts Rugby Union official (Sedru) whose organisation is affiliated to the EPRU, said some EP structures, including coaches and managers, had been disbanded after George Malgas, returned as EPRU acting president following a court decision last month. Former EPRU vice president Malgas has been embroiled in an ugly boardroom spat with Gerald Antonie. The latter was elected by executive members to replace Malgas as acting EPRU president in February after Saru officials travelled to Gqeberha to mediate in the feud.
“The matter went unopposed [after Malgas approached the courts] and the judge ruled in Malgas’ favour,” said the Sedru official. “The girls’ teams were selected by structures sanctioned under Antonie’s reign and it seems with Malgas’ return to the acting presidency role, the teams were scrapped and replaced.”
The lists of the girls’ teams thrown out by EPRU were signed off by Witbooi and Antonie. A copy of the lists is in Talk of the Town’s possession.
The Sedru official, who sits on the EP executive, confirmed that the body was a divided unit and admitted that it was “very sad” that the girls had been left stranded due to the internal wrangling and politics of the EPRU.
“Answers are needed,” he said.
Natasha Gunn said, “This is actually an embarrassment because so many sponsors around Kenton and Port Alfred had come forward to help our children for their trip.”
One of the players told Talk of the Town that her confidence had taken a huge knock.
“I am not going to give up I will continue playing the sport I love … but I am not going to heal very quickly either. My confidence has been badly affected and my ego has taken a knock for sure. I enjoyed the experience last year and was so looking forward to this year’s tournament. I am very angry,” she added.
A Klipfontein parent, Franklin Meyers, said his daughter had broken down following the news of the team’s withdrawal.
“She returned from PE with my wife very heartsore and cried herself to sleep that night. It is a very emotional time for her. I have strong emotions too but I have to keep them in check as I have to be there for my daughter,” he told Talk of the Town.
“We had to attend many training camps after the teams were selected in April which cost us about R500 per trip. We trained very hard together, running up and down sand dunes and on beaches to prepare for the tournament. As parents we are really heartsore for our daughter.”
Bernia Brown is mother to another player.
“I am disappointed … my child’s spirit has been broken – she has been scarred emotionally,” said the Alexandria mom. “We were all at what we thought would be the capping ceremony at the PE beachfront only to be told by the coach that the squad had been replaced.
“My child is also crying herself to sleep and I am very worried about her emotional well-being. We want answers and an explanation from Saru and EP rugby.”
Parents of the Ndlambe player group have already written letters to mother body, Saru, wanting answers.
Makoki said the EP Management Committee had called a meeting of the EP schools and the YTC structures to resolve the matter. However, a well-known sports official in Alexandria who helped the Ndlambe contingent secure sponsorship, said, “It’s too late, the damage has already been done”.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, July 11, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
