u20 Rugby – UXI Sport

The Unconventional Pathway to your Greatest Rugby Dreams

Some of the greatest and most beloved stories of the ages is that of an underdog rising up and succeeding. Be it in films, in the workforce or in sport – there is a sensation of power when those least likely to succeed shock everyone and transform to achieve their greatness.

Dreams are fascinating things. What is your dream, and will you achieve your dream in this lifetime? I am almost certain that you would like to, and I truly hope that you do! But how bad do you want it? What lengths will you go to achieve it? Several young school-boy rugby players dream of running out onto the center field of a packed out stadium. The ultimate dream of “making it big” in rugby. Young boys sit in front of their TV’s, watching their rugby heroes, visualizing themselves as the next future stars on the international stage of rugby.

So what is the pathway then to becoming an overnight rugby champion? The conventional pathway is that a player must first make their High School’s first rugby team, and from there make it into the Craven Week squad. Once in a Craven Week squad, you’ve got your togs in the door. At the Craven Week tournament, you are scouted and selected for the Junior Springboks squad. The Junior Springboks squad is truly a prestigious achievement, and emphasizes the onset of a successful career in SA Rugby. This squad takes part in the World Rugby u20 Championship, where players battle up against powerful international rugby teams, such as Argentina, Georgia and Uruguay. From Junior Boks, players are usually offered contracts immediately into SA Rugby under-20 squads, or directly into professional Senior squads. And there you go – the traditional pathway!

However, what happens to those boys who possibly don’t make a Craven Week team, or aren’t selected for the Junior Springboks? Where is their pathway, do they even have one? Or are these boys expected to simply give up their dreams because they weren’t able to tick a box on the conventional ‘Professional Rugby roadmap’? Cue the UXI Rugby Institute pathway!

The UXI Rugby Institutes are a rugby force to be reckoned with, and are catalysts of rugby development in the 16 to 23 year old age grade. These high performance institutes are illustrating that you don’t need to give up on your dreams just because you didn’t get one opportunity. The UXI Rugby Institutes provides you with countless opportunities to make your dreams a reality. In the past year, the UXI Rugby Institutes have provided our players with the opportunities to be seen, and be selected! To date, we have had 38 students selected for various u20 rugby squads across South Africa. There are 12 players playing for the Pumas u20 squad; 17players playing for Griquas u20 squad; 6 players playing for the Cheetahs u20 squad; 2 old boys playing for the Western Province u20 squad; and 1 player playing for the Vodacom Bulls u20 squad.

Now the UXI Rugby Institutes don’t just stop at the Junior Squads, we try to get our players all the way to the top! Currently, we have Niel Venter from the Cheetahs Institute of Excellence currently training with the Toyota Cheetahs Squad. As well as Juandre Odendaal, who has been called up to the Professional New Nations Pumas Currie Cup squad. And just to add a bonus point to the UXI score board, we recently had one player from the Griquas Rugby Institute contracted to a professional team in Poland; as well as several old Western Province Rugby Academy old boys contracted to various European Rugby Unions.

So why are these rugby institutes so successful? Well, besides offering a meticulously designed high performance programme, your head coach at rugby institute is the same coach who is coaching the professional Senior squads. A rugby player, who may have been an underdog at Craven Week selection, is now given a front row seat in the ‘talent identification’ line. You finally get your shot to be seen by the coaches and Unions – an opportunity that you may have never gotten otherwise.

So you see, there is not just one pathway. You do not need to tick every traditional box to live out your dream. Being an underdog doesn’t mean that your dreams are over, in fact, it means that they have only just begun…

It is time to rise up through the UXI Rugby Institutes, and transform into the player that you dreamed of – because your dreams are closer than you think!

UXI Sport- Inspiring Greatness
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