AMERICAN RUGBY ACADEMY MEETS THE WESTERN PROVINCE RUGBY ACADEMY IN SOUTH AFRICA

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) 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 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.