Youth rugby training opens for local players of all ages

The Bryanston Honey Badgers will begin ad-hoc pre-season rugby training towards the end of February 2022, with official training starting after the Easter weekend.

All players are welcome to join the training at any time, even novices, who will be taught the necessary rugby skills from scratch.

"We welcome anyone from all surrounding areas who is interested in learning how to play rugby to join us on our top-class, beautifully maintained training fields at St Stithians. All our coaches are minimum IRB 1 qualified, and are really passionate about youth rugby and rugby coaching," says Bryanston Honey Badgers Chairman, Anthony Losco.

This year the club will be looking at expanding its family-friendly programme for boys and girls, as well as hosting special events, like Friday night friendlies, fun days and coaching events. It will also focus on growing its older age groups, especially among female players, so it can consistently field full teams right across the spectrum. Female players aged 5+ are welcome; they begin training with the boys and are split into all-female teams for training and competitions once in high school.

Bryanston Honey Badgers, also known as Badgers Rugby, is a non-profit organisation affiliated to Golden Lions Youth Rugby. The team is generously sponsored by Winstel Technologies, a local IT firm that provides affordable outsourced IT management solutions and support services.

"Interested players are invited to check the training schedule and just come on over with their own water bottle and gum guard. We promise they will leave with new skills, awesome new friends, a sense of belonging and most importantly, a smile," adds Losco.

Games are scheduled to begin in the government schools' third term.