Members of the Mitchell’s Plain regional schools girls’ under-16 and under-18 squads were put through their paces at a tough, but fun, team-building programme, held at West End Primary School, in Lentegeur, at the weekend.
Although a fair amount of sweat was worked up, it wasn’t all just press ups, arm swings, lunges, burpees and squats, as the girls had their stamina and resourcefulness tested in areas one might associate with talent shows.
One might even be forgiven for thinking the girls were trying out to perform in an upcoming variety concert as they were called upon to showcase their singing and dancing skills.
But there’s method in the madness, said course leader Angelo Coetzee, who was roped in by women’s coach Jeanette Bailey.
Coetzee, who runs the Paradigm Leadership Academy for Youth, and Bailey, an administrator at Harvester Primary School, in Westridge, had collaborated previously on a holiday programme at Harvester and had tackled a few similar projects.
Bailey has extensive experience in coaching girls and, along with the late Shafiek Murphy, a former teacher at Princeton High, helped to lay the foundation for girls’ rugby in Mitchell’s Plain.
“The aim of Saturday’s programme was to combine different personalities, characters and skills in one team, to allow them to be able to work together,” she said.
While the Mitchell’’s Plain regional teams are made up of players from various schools, including Rocklands, Spine Road, Princeton, Strandfontein and Aloe high schools, players from schools in other areas, among them Wynberg Girls’ also attended the programme. Bailey said the idea was to work on communication skills, listening skills and leadership qualities with the aim to revive, rebuild and renew the team.for them to work as one unit.
“I’ve been coaching girls’ rugby for a decade, starting out as an assistant to the late Shafiek Murphy and I am the convenor for women’s rugby in Mitchell’s Plain,” said Bailey. “We play in the WP schools’ league , Vuka tournaments and George Tens,” she said.
“I’m so proud to see the girls put into practice what we’ve taught them as mentors over the years and to see them excel at different levels.”
Coetzee said it’s not always about winning or losing, even though teams are often result-driven and judged based on results. “Our main aim was for the participants to realise their potential, to show up and put in the work irrespective of results,” said Coetzee. “More important than results is to always give their best and trust the process even if they don’t make it as a professional rugby player,” he said. “Hopefully, the values learnt will benefit them wherever they go.”
“We focused on effective communication, and team cohesion as well as important fundamentals such as support, time management and so on.”
Leandi Smith, 24, a teacher at Strandfontein High and a former SA under-16, under-18 and SA Students senior player, was also on hand to lend a bit of help, along with senior WP women’s players Luwayne Willemse and Jamie Lee van der Berg.
Smith herself came through Bailey and Murphy’s hands before making her mark on the bigger stage. Although planning to get back in the game, she’s taken a step back from playing to focus on the coaching side of things. “These are girls from all around Mitchell’s Plain. Some schools do not have rugby, so girls are more than welcomed to join the team whenever,” she said.
Junior women’s Springbok Raeeqah Hendricks, 19, from Tafelsig, a former star player at Spine Road High and current assistant coach at her alma mater, also attended Saturday’s gathering. Although there’s a lot of play left in her, Hendricks, like Smith, is also testing the coaching waters.
“I am an assistant coach for the under-18 regional team, together with Leandi and Miss B. I want to do my levels in coaching. I want to give back to my community,” she said.