September this year will mark a momentous occasion. It will be the first year that a squad from the Mzwandile Rugby Tournament will travel to England and play there against school rugby teams. The best 25 players from all of the games played in Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown and Fort Beaufort will be invited to form part of the Mzwandile Mali Rugby Team 2020. We hope that this team will represent the best of what our young Eastern Cape township rugby talent has to offer, and that in so doing they are able to participate in games with established local schools, and attract further attention from local rugby scouts and clubs.
The inception of the idea took place when a good friend and former colleague Louis Botes (Junior Coach for the Sevenoaks Rugby Football Club), had the idea that boys from one of the township schools teams should receive the opportunity to tour around England and play rugby with boys from British schools. I am extremely grateful to Louis Botes and Rupert Daniel who advocated for this idea which seemed like a dream at the time, to become reality.
Rugby players from some of the smallest towns which are severely disadvantaged will receive the opportunity of a lifetime. This experience will not just be about getting to play rugby. It will provide the team with a holistic sense of what they can achieve with hard work. Apart from specialised rugby training at the Sevenoaks Rugby Club, they will also receive guidance on optimal nutrition and caring for their bodies as athletes. They will foster interactions and friendships across racial and circumstantial lines. A power that sport has always had in bringing people together. Their trip will be enriched culturally as they will also get to see and explore the sights and highlights of London.
Donations totalling to R600 000 is needed in order to make the tour a reality. We encourage you to make a donation to this worthy cause - one that will tangibly change the lives of these rugby players forever.
Here are the details:
Name: Lincoln Mali t/a Mzwandile Mali England Rugby School
Account Number: 402251474
Account Type: Business Current Account
Bank: Standard Bank
Branch: Wealth and Investment Rosebank
Branch Code: 051001