Ahead of Edinburgh’s Vodacom URC Round 13 fixture against the Hollywoodbets Sharks, coaches and players from the Scottish side took part in a coaching clinic in Sydenham, Durban this morning.
Sydenham was once a rugby buzz community where former Springbok and Sharks player JP Peterson played rugby. The Hollywoodbets Sharks are actively working towards reviving rugby in this community with the support from Ten Civils. With that, they welcomed Edinburgh Rugby’s co-captain Ben Vellacott and fellow team-mates Ewan Ashman, Jamie Ritchie and Pierre Schoeman to the Sharks Pups coaching clinic.
100 young boys and girls aged 6 – 13 were treated to a morning they will never forget with Edinburgh Rugby players and coaching staff taking them through rugby drills, skills and games of tag rugby.
After leading the young fans through the session, South African born, Edinburgh and Scottish International Pierre Schoeman said: “Loads of these kids already believe they are the next superstars, that inspires me coaching them today. A special moment for me today was a young girl who in my opinion was one of the best players here today. I am giving her my cap as she is my Player of the Match. She was excellent and much younger than most of the kids. These young kids are all so hungry, wanting to express themselves on the pitch and will chase success wherever they go.”
As part of the URC Communities United campaign, Vodacom URC encourages its clubs to engage in cross-hemisphere community activities with travelling teams, providing fans and players with a unique opportunity to learn about the different personalities and cultures in this uniquely diverse league.
The league is very proud and grateful to the clubs and personnel involved in helping to bring this to life.
Moon Solitaire
Sport Trivia: Who was the first woman swimmer to win both the 100m and 200m breaststroke at the Olympics? Answer: Penny Heyns. She won both the 100m and 200m breaststroke events at the 1996 Olympics, the first woman to do so. She broke the world and Olympic records for the 100m breaststroke and broke the Olympic record for the 200m breaststroke. In 1999 she held 5 out of a possible 6 world breaststroke records, the first time this had ever been achieved (50m, 100m and 200m, plus same distances in 25m short course pool) — the one she \”missed\” was the 200m short course.
Mustard Centaur
Sport Trivia: Who was South Africa\’s first Olympic Gold Medal winner? Answer: Reginald Walker. Reginald Walker was born in 1889 in Natal and in 1907 was the South African 100m champion. He battled with finances to get to London for the 1908 Summer Olympics but once he was there he managed, very unexpectedly to all those competing, to beat the field and walk off with the Gold for the 100m. As at 2005 Reggie Walker was still the youngest winner of the 100m Olympic Gold Medal.