Cape Town - SA Rugby on Tuesday announced a new structure to the 2016 Youth Weeks, with the junior tournaments being hosted concurrently in Paarl and the Under-18 tournaments in Durban.
In the past all the tournaments were hosted at different venues.
The Under-13 Craven Week and Under-16 Grant Khomo Week will be hosted simultaneously at Paarl Gymnasium from July 4 to 8, and the Academy Week and Under-18 Craven Week will be hosted between July 11 and 16 at Kearsney College near Durban.
The Learners with Special Education Needs (LSEN) Week, meanwhile, will be hosted at the Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) in Pretoria from June 27 to 30.
“The new structure of our Youth Weeks will have several benefits, the biggest of which is that we will be able to ensure that the Mobi-Unit coaches, the national selectors, our High Performance staff and the SA Rugby Academy Coaches will be able to attend all the tournaments,” said SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux.
“In the past they either had to split up into two teams to keep an eye on all the tournaments or they had to attend each tournament for only a few days.
“Another advantage is that player education with regards to our rugby pathways, safety campaigns, referee recruitment programmes and contracting could be done simultaneously with both groups of players.
“The new structure will also create a festival of rugby at each venue for the players, their families and friends, while boosting the camaraderie among the players. With these changes, the players and supporters can look forward to an action-packed SA Rugby Youth Weeks series from start to end.”
Dates and venues for the SA Rugby Youth Weeks:
June 27-30: LSEN Week - Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies), Pretoria
July 4 and 8: Under-13 Craven Week/Under-16 Grant Khomo Week - Paarl Gymnasium, Paarl
July 11 to 16: Academy Week/Under-18 Craven Week - Kearsney College, Durban