UXI Sport is pleased to announce its partnership with the IMM Graduate School. The IMM Graduate School is one of the most legendary and reputable private Higher Education providers of choice in the field of marketing, supply chain and business in South Africa. The IMM Graduate School’s offering includes certificates, diplomas, degrees and postgraduate qualifications, which are all registered with the South African Qualifications Framework (SAQA) and quality assured by the South African Council on Higher Education (CHE).
An integral part of UXI Sport’s unique High Performance Rugby Programme is its Academic Programmes, that form part of the holistic development of Student Rugby Athletes. Through the Academic Programmes, provided by our academic partners, we develop young men and women, with key attributes and qualities that offer work-readiness.
UXI Sport’s institutes are passionate about creating opportunities, job placement and most importantly an embedded work-ethic, that is driven by a dedicated professional team, that INSPIRES GREATNESS!
“Sport High Performance development combined with an exceptional, relevant marketing qualification, are powerful in itself to secure opportunities in various sectors in the South African and global economy – but most importantly the Sports Athlete is a BRAND in him/herself that needs to understand how to build this brand internationally”
AMERICAN RUGBY ACADEMY MEETS THE WESTERN PROVINCE RUGBY ACADEMY IN SOUTH AFRICA
Recently UXI Sport welcomed its first (of many to come) USA rugby national exchange students. Tucker Trickey (scrumhalf) and Jake Stone (flank) offi cially joined the Western Province Rugby Academy family – all the way from San Diego, United States of America.
Hailing from the Californian city, Tucker and Jake are exceptionally talented players from the San Diego Legion Academy. The San Diego Legion is an American professional rugby union that contributes to the development of players of the American national team, which was founded in 2017, and competes in Major League Rugby. The San Diego Legion professional squad is home to many South African players, such as Cecil Afrika, Dean Muir, Bjorn Basson, Tiaan Loots, Carlo de Nysschen and Joe Pietersen (of whom Captained the squad in 2019).
Rugby Academies in America and in South Africa, play a key role as training centres for the development of players and coaches for the professional rugby sport industry. Taking hands with a rugby country such as South Africa, a 3 times world cup winner, assists with the growth and development of this sport in the United States.
Such as with SA Rugby, USA Rugby also engages in National Development Programs which make use of a High-Performance Pathway initiative, one of them being the San Diego Legion Academy – an American rugby academy where Tucker (22) and Jake (20) hail from. The San Diego Legion Academy and the Western Province Rugby Academy came together to provide once in a lifetime OPPORTUNITIES for these two talented players – the ultimate South African Rugby Experience!
Based in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, Tucker and Jake’s month-long high performance rugby experience has been an incredible experience for both. Not only did they participate in the UXI High- Performance Rugby programme, but also represented the Hamilton’s u/20 team in the Super A Club League of the Western Province Rugby Football Union.
The highlight of this stay included a match against the WP Stormers U20 squad, one that tested the Academy players development progress against some of the best SA Rugby U/20 players in South Africa.
The UXI Rugby Institutes offers international and domestic players the unique experience to travel South African, see the beautiful and cultured country, in all its diversity! From Table Mountain and the Winelands in the Cape to the Kruger National Park and Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga. The players study Rugby under super minds of Coaches, such as Ricardo Loubscher at the Cheetahs Institute of Excellence in Free State, to Brendell Brandt at the Griquas Rugby Institute in Kimberley. The rugby opportunities and travel experience are endless!
UXI Sport is able to arrange various international tour opportunities to South Africa, for both men and women rugby players, who want to experience playing rugby at a high level.
An experience for both the South Africans and the American players, as they learnt so much from one another both on and off the field. Friends were made for LIFE and bridges built across so many borders!
The UXI Rugby Institutes will offer the American GED certificate from 2022. An accredited private South African high school education provider, ESCA, has partnered with UXI on this initiative and this will allow for players to transition to American clubs or colleges for play opportunity exchange programs. The American GED allows access into various colleges in America.
UXI Rugby institutes SA, are passionate about exit strategies, and closing the gap in global rugby for all its players in its high-performance programs. The American Dream is a dream for many young talented South African rugby players! UXI Rugby Institutes will also be reaching out to other high level Academies in the US that has a shared vision to identify and develop players and coaches, such as the Eagle Impact Rugby Academy!
A huge word of thanks goes to the San Diego Legion Academy staff, Anton Moolman (UXI International Marketing Director), and the WPRA team for making this exchange programme a reality for Tucker and Jake. We look forward to welcoming another group of USA players to their journey to Stellenbosch, South Africa soon.
What does Elon Musk and a world-class South African Rugby development Programme have in common?
“I think it is possible for an ordinary person to choose to be extraordinary.” ~ Elon Musk
There may be times in life when difficulties and obstacles creep up on us and try to derail our dreams and attempt to dim our lights. Some of these things are, unfortunately, out of our control.
However, the one thing we are ALWAYS in control of are our ATTITUDES and MINDSETS. It is an active choice, every day, to either be an ordinary or an extraordinary human being. This is entirely our choice; and we always have the power to elevate ourselves and our minds, even in the most difficult of times.
Elon Musk reminds us that he is just an ordinary person, who has simply chosen to be extraordinary and lives his life everyday with this mindset and attitude. Elon, born in South Africa, might be familiar with rugby, although he never practiced it, or competed in a world championship event , he is a keen sports enthusiast, and an ever-evolving man!
Anyone can do the same – for some of us adapting ourselves and our mindsets come naturally, and for others it is a process. But truth be told, if we don’t adapt with an attitude of continuous improvement in Sport or in Life, we shall not move forward to that ultimate destination we are capable of reaching. We shall not be able to view crises or troubles in life as opportunities.
How does this adaptive, growth mindset affect the Rugby Institute programs, our players and coaches, at a time of unprecedented uncertainty?
It is no secret that Covid-19 is still very much a part of our daily lives. As we move back into Level 4 Lockdown for two weeks affecting Amateur rugby training, Head coaches have pushed the term 2 holidays forward in order to align with these sudden restrictions. While this may be disheartening for our players, there is no need for them to be despondent, as our sports scientist staff, management and coaches are well-prepared for any and all obstacles that come their way.
Adaptability is a key attribute, taught in the Mental program of A- Game, and a critical component of this associative learning, deeply embedded in the Rugby programme of UXI Sport. It is referred to as Adaptabilty Intelligence (AQ). It is simply astonishing how sport can teach players such a habit-forming trait, whether through skills and conditioning training, on-field game strategy, through injury rehabilitation, or skills set learning!
UXI Sport is more passionate than ever before to inspire GREATNESS and HOPE to our athlete players. We continue to drive this through creative home training programmes, individual Teams coaching sessions and fun mental and physical challenges. These are recorded daily through a technology driven Althlete Performance Management (APM) system and TEAM APPLICATIONS, that monitor our players 24/7, so we can measure performance and improvement continuously.
The UXI Rugby Programmes, as with the constant changes of our LIFE and working-worlds, are about continuous re-evention and adaptability. Two critical behavioral dispositions, referred to as FUTURE FIT skills. These are the skills required today to become WORLD CHAMPIONS for LIFE!
The first time Bolla set foot on the WPRA UXI Rugby Institute, I met a man whose smile went from his face to my heart.
A legend capped as Springbok in the history of South African Rugby ,over 80 times, and one who represented the proud WP jersey in iconic years, when crowds streamed to Newlands and camped outside the stadium for hours to see their heroes in action. Those were the days when dreams were real, and the sons from the people of the Cape, played bare foot in the dirt roads and fields of the Cape communities, They had one dream only, and that was to wear the blue and white striped jersey one day.
The days where there were no lucrative contracts and insurances. They played for the PRIDE of the jersey and loyalty to the Disa!
That spirit, that heart, are all still very evident and present in the man known as “The Rock”, who became a precious member of the WPRA coaching team in Stellenbosch at the beginning of 2021. One that few 17/18 year old players know, and some coaches in elite circles labelled, as too “old school” for the modern game! But UXI Sport believe that our youth, the “modern players of the game”- our new “ generation Z” needs these qualities, that he represents, instilled BACK into the value systems of players that enters the UXI Rugby instituterugby development program and system. Values and attributes that have been lost over the past decades but have become Future Fit skills to survive in a Y2K era.
That quality that “Inspires greatness”, that does not matter where you come from, but where you are going. And this is exactly what underpins the world-class UXI Rugby Program. We witnessed Bolla transform diverse players with diverse backgrounds and experience levels in only 5 months, to performance levels that humbled us! Not only on the field but for LIFE!
Bolla “speaks” the language of the people of our Western Cape in a way few coaches can, transferring skill, passion and pride, breaking through generation barriers. Bolla ignites HOPE, Bolla inspires greatness, years after he hung up his boots.
How proud we are of this Legend, part of the UXI Sport Dream team, leaving a mark in the lives of many aspirant and development players every day, and now returning to assist the professional coaching teams at WP.
This goes to prove how South African rugby needs their legends for more reasons than one!
UXI Sport in support of the Legends of Rugby, whose voices should never be silenced, for they represent too many lessons in the game of rugby and LIFE to bury!
Becoming a coach was always a passion that I wanted to pursue. It was what drove me throughout high school. I was usually in leadership roles throughout my rugby playing career in school. I was always able to motivate people to perform and do better. Western Province Rugby Academy has given me the opportunity to realize my dream and finally step into my rugby coaching role, as opposed to being a player. In 2020, I was able to successfully do my World Rugby Level 1 in coaching. I finally had a glimpse of what was waiting for me in the future – I was so excited! I also was able to complete the World Rugby level 2 at the WPRA in 2020.
As of 2021, I started coaching at different schools, with the help of RSD, to build confidence as a coach. The first time I was able to coach was my most memorable moment ever, as I was able to see the improvement and the happiness in the players faces. That was when I knew that I was on the right track. I have been coaching rugby at Curro Hermanus for a few months, with the same group of players, and it was an amazing experience and inspiring to see the improvements over time. I hope to fulfill my goals and become a Provincial Coach or an International Coach, with the help of the
WPRA. I have crossed over to this new journey in my life: from a being a player to a coach and am now pursing my true passion. Thank you very much WPRA for the opportunity!
America and South Africa coming together in the name of RUGBY!
It is a great honour for UXI Sport to welcome our first (of many to come) American rugby exchange students. Tucker Trickey (scrumhalf) and Jake Stone (flank) have officially joined the Western Province Rugby Academy family – all the way from San Diego, United States of America.
Hailing from the Californian city, Tucker and Jake are exceptionally talented players from the San Diego Legion Academy. The San Diego Legion is an American professional rugby union, which was founded in 2017, and competes in Major League Rugby. The San Diego Legion professional squad is home to many South African players, such as Cecil Afrika, Dean Muir, Bjorn Basson, Tiaan Loots, Carlo de Nysschen and Joe Pietersen (of whom Captained the squad in 2019).
Such as with SA Rugby, USA Rugby also engages in National Development Programs which make use of a High-Performance Pathway initiative, one of them being the San Diego Legion Academy – where Tucker (22) and Jake (20) hail from. The San Diego Legion Academy and the Western Province Rugby Academy came together to provide once in a lifetime OPPORTUNITIES for these two talented players – the ultimate South African Rugby Experience!
Based in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, Tucker and Jake’s month-long high performance rugby experience has already been off to an exciting start. Not only will they be engaging in the UXI High Performance programme, but will also be representing Hamilton’s u/20 in the Super A Club League. We have no doubt that Tucker and Jake will have an extraordinary time at the Western Province Rugby Academy; and we hope that they will be inspired to achieve greatness, through sport to life!
The UXI Rugby Institutes offers international players the unique experience to travel South African, see the beautiful and cultured country; in all its diversity! From Table Mountain and the Winelands in the Cape to the Kruger National Park and Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga. Our players study Rugby under super minds of Coaches, such as Ricardo Loubscher at the Cheetahs Institute of Excellence in Free State, to Brendell Brandt at the Griquas Rugby Institute in Kimberley. The rugby opportunities and travel experience are endless!
A huge word of thanks goes to the San Diego Legion Academy staff, Anton Moolman (UXI International Marketing Director), and the entire WPRA team for making this exchange programme a reality for Tucker and Jake. We look forward to the remainder of their journey in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
I was always a fat kid/person and was always very difficult to get fit and I was sure that I didn’t have what it takes to be like the success stories I read in magazines.
In 2018 I decided that is enough and I was looking at my health as wealth and got a coach (Dan Hurlin) that helped me and guided me along the first year or so.
2019 Mens Health approached me and asked if they can publish my one year transformation in their 2019 June addition and I obviously agreed because that was the magazine I always read for inspiration, and now I will be that story for someone else… I started my journey at 137kg or so and today I am a comfortable 95kg and don’t even diet, just live a healthy conscious life..
In my journey of 3 years now I had a slipped disc in my back and was hospitalise for 2 weeks and also couldn’t train for almost 3 months just rehab, also had a umbilical hernia operation.. So safe to say it was not a easy journey at all. BUT I kept on keeping on and believed that I can do this.
Everything is possible if you just believe you CAN.. control what you Can control and keep going , never give up!!
Nineteen-year-old flanker, Niel Venter, has found himself in the optimal position to make his dreams turn into realities – from the Institute model within a year, into the professional Toyota Cheetahs’ den!
Niel, who is an extremely talented young rugby player, who was not offered a semi-professional/professional contract or a bursary after school, is pursuing a dedicated path to help make his rugby dreams come true. He nevertheless believed in his dreams and his talent, and this led to his parents registering him into the self-funded Rugby Institute at the Cheetahs, the “Cheetahs Institute of Excellence”! Here, he was exposed to the same level of high-performance training and development as a contracted or semi-contracted player, exposed to the same coaches and high performance standards.
This also led Neil to the Under 20 pro-team training squad in 2020 already. All the way from the rugby posts of HJS pitches; the story of Niel Venter offers INSPIRATION and ignite HOPE and opportunities to many young aspirant rugby boys.
The reality of the current South African sporting economy is that it has been further financially crippled by Covid 19 – the youth needs to create their own opportunities through development platforms such as the one that the UXI Sport Rugby Institutes offer, closely aligned to the Union professional pathways.
The Cheetahs Institute of Excellence and the UXI Rugby Institutes are self-funded models – it offer players the opportunity to INVEST into their talent and future in a platform that creates an ultimate athletic development opportunity. It is not only investing into a two or more years sporting career; it is an investment into the opportunity to make a dream turn into a reality, an investment into the significant adaptations that an athlete must endure in their sport to reach an ultimate goal. It is an investment into the qualities and values that are learnt that reflects into daily life: accountability, adaptability, ownership, sacrifice and toughness. It’s investing in the opportunity and the environment which cultivates and inspires GREATNESS across all facets of the sport to life- An opportunity pursued by Neil Venter and one that will give him the RETURN OF INVESTMENT in years to come!
How is a young man without a family or permanent home inspiring residents of Cape Town’s leafy Southern Suburbs to reach their fitness goals? SIPHO NJENGEZI shared the story of his life, his fitness business and a community’s response with NANINE STEENKAMP
When I was born, my mother abandoned me in a hospital in Nelspruit. At three months, I was moved to a children’s home in Johannesburg run by the Salvation Army. At three years, I was fostered by a lady in Cape Town. At 13, I was sent to Girls and Boys Town, a children’s home in Kenilworth. Living there, I often felt so sad not to have a family, but it nonetheless gave me skills and discipline for which I’m grateful. I attended church holiday clubs during this time at St Stephens Church in Claremont. I loved this because the church was like a family. At the age of 13, I decided to follow Jesus and accept God as my Father. Sometimes I struggle not to blame Him, but I feel I can talk to Him about everything. I know He understands me, that I just want to be happy and have a family, a goal that keeps me going.
I attended Claremont Primary School, where I played soccer and cricket. When I started playing rugby at 13, I was told I was particularly good at tackling. I had no fear and started to love and understand the sport. I played open side and blindside flank, and playing rugby distracted me from my painful background and made me feel good about myself. I then attended Batavia School of Skills until 2018 and I was head boy in my final year. Thereafter, I was offered a scholarship by Western Province Rugby Academy, and I was also assisted financially at this time by the children’s home and Anthea Eedes, my most recent foster mother.
That was a really good year for me. I got the opportunity to tour with a team to Argentina! I hoped the plane wouldn’t crash and be one of those stories on the news! But I wasn’t scared, it was just so awesome meeting different people and going to a new place. I stayed with a host family who were most welcoming and I got along well with the son who also played rugby. It was such an honour and I even learned a bit of Spanish. When I walked around, people would call out, ‘Siya Kolisi! Siya Kolisi!’ asking to take a photo with me. I’d love to give other people the privilege of this experience.
As part of the Western Province Rugby Academy programme, we were given the opportunity to take a personal training course through the Health and Fitness Professionals Academy. As an athlete, I was interested in personal training to understand what I was working on in my body.
Once the programme ended, I lived in a few places but still had no permanent home. When the first Covid-19 lockdown came, I ended up in the homeless shelter in Kalk Bay. I felt so tired of moving around. ‘When will I find a spot where I can just stay for a while?,’ I asked myself. Initially, I was accepted there for three months but it was extended because of lockdown. Going to the shelter was a decision: these people were now my brothers and my father and mother. I was going to love them. I told myself, ‘I have to use this opportunity’. I decided to trust people, not worrying about them stealing my phone or my clothes. It was a defining time for me and I had to ask myself: ‘Do I have grief about my family being here? Am I ashamed of being here?’ I chose to turn my difficulties into something positive.
I contacted Vusi, a mentor I had had at school, and he helped me register for a free six-month entrepreneurship course at the Entrepreneurship Leadership School in Cape Town. This course taught me a lot about leadership and uplifting myself, such as success being a choice. Everyone has problems and it’s our choice whether we navigate through them or not. Once lockdown was relaxed a little and we were allowed to go out for early morning exercise, I started stacking rocks to stay calm with the help of someone I’d met on the beach. I spotted a guy who was balancing big rocks on top of one another, and he agreed to teach me. I decided to make this part of my strength workout.
I did daily workouts at the Dalebrook tidal pool, where I met the Moodliar family, a YouTube influencer called Ben Brown and a lady called Laurianne Cloete who encouraged me to start a personal training business.I also met a photographer called Jenna, who asked me to train her, saying she got so much positive energy from me. I said, ‘Ok, tomorrow?’ She agreed and showed up, even though it was raining! Since then we’ve got to know one another very well. She’s helped me a lot with marketing my business and I call her ‘sister’! I have learnt so much from her. My business helped me get to know people. A kind lady even invited me to stay for some weeks in her apartment in Clovelly and I house-sat a house for a while, then moved around to wherever I was offered accommodation. But I’m always careful to not take advantage of people’s hospitality.
Many people around me have helped and encouraged me not to feel bad about myself. One day I met a family on the beach who pointed me out to their kids, ‘Look at the strong guy!’ The fact that they recognised my talent motivated me. They invited me to church and I could ask them questions about God. One of them was: ‘Why has my life been like this?’ But then I hear an inner voice that says, ‘Sipho, it is what it is. It’s part of your past and don’t let it define you.’ This helps me move on and choose to grow in my relationship with God, rather than get stuck on what I don’t know. He knows what I’m going through.
I also received great support from the False Bay Rugby Football Club, who I knew from my rugby days. I currently play for their first team. Some people there encouraged me to pursue this business and believed in me from the start. Last year really didn’t unfold as I thought it would, but I’m glad about what’s happened. People keep encouraging me to keep going and it gives me motivation. Sometimes I work hard and after the session I’m sad, wishing I had a family. Couldn’t I too have had a childhood with a family who take care of one another and enjoy life together, having fun? But I understand we all come from different backgrounds and that is my situation. I have been through a lot of abandonment and rejection since I was a baby. I’ve had to accept that. It makes me wiser than others and I can relate to older people. Sometimes it’s hard to see families doing things together because I don’t have a permanent home. I’m trying to sort my life out and not be discouraged with my situation.
All the support from the Kalk Bay community last year made me feel that others also believe in what I want to achieve. People seem happy to be part of my achievements. Together with my friends Laurianne and Sham, we organised my 21st birthday party and they and Anthea also helped me pay for it.
I’m driven because of my circumstances. It’s about how you push yourself through difficult circumstances to get where and who you want to be. I am already doing what I am loving. I am helping people and they are helping me. Even if you don’t believe in God, life is still about helping others believe in themselves, pursuing their dreams, isn’t it? In 2021, I started coaching rugby to youngsters at SACS Junior School in Newlands, as well as strength and conditioning to water polo players in Wynberg . This was organised through Sham, my friend. I’m currently renting an apartment in Wynberg and walk quite far to get to SACS because I want to avoid a Covid risk, but it doesn’t feel exhausting at all, I am so happy and it’s so great to be doing what I’m passionate about.
My dream is to become a professional rugby player and a rugby coach to impact youngsters by doing things differently and influencing them positively through sport. It would be amazing to play for a foreigner’s club in England, or perhaps even a provincial team or the Springboks! But it’s not about me, I’m already doing what I love: most of all I want others to grow.’
A legend capped as Springbok in the history of South African Rugby ,over 80 times, and one who represented the proud WP jersey in iconic years, when crowds streamed to Newlands and camped outside the stadium for hours to see their heroes in action. Those were the days when dreams were real, and the sons from the people of the Cape, played bare foot in the dirt roads and fields of the Cape communities, They had one dream only, and that was to wear the blue and white striped jersey one day.
The Cheetahs Institute of Excellence and the 
