The Border rugby community is celebrating as Lwazi Zangqa has become one of only a handful local coaches to earn his World Rugby level three accreditation, charting a clear path towards what will be an elite level rugby coaching career.
Conferred by World Rugby, Zangqa’s accreditation signifies a high level of coaching expertise that affirms his capacity to coach international elite teams and players.
The accreditation entailed close to two years of theory and practice that involved meticulous translation of Zangqa’s coaching into tangible strategic plans presented to World Rugby governing body for approval and scrutiny.
The process was split into two parts which included long months of planning and documenting every aspect of his coaching strategy from decision-making to selection process and code of conduct.
The Hudson schools, Police Park and Border Craven Week coach said his accreditation affirmed that his years of coaching dedication at school, club and provincial level were being recognised and rewarded.
Zangqa said: “Nothing beats hard work and being willing to go the extra mile and believing in your dreams.
“You must do whatever it takes to get to your goals and be willing to make sacrifices so when the opportunity comes, you are ready for it and in this sense I was relentless.
“This accreditation is the equivalent of a degree in the sport which is a qualification that not even coaches in some franchises hold.”
Zangqa said one day joining the Border Bulldogs structure was an opportunity he would relish and was now qualified for, given it was any coach’s dream to lead their home side from underdogs to champions.
Bulldogs coach David Dobela congratulated Zangqa and said: “I have invited him come to one or two sessions with the Bulldogs with the intention of building a group of coaches that will take over from me.”
With the Border U18 Craven Week squad announced last week, Zangqa and his coaching team are working hard to prepare their players for what will be an epic first game against EP.
Zangqa said: “We aren’t concerned about the fact that within the SA School Sport top 100 schools list there are only three East London schools because at the challenge is bringing these diverse players together into a unified team, irrespective of what schools your players come from or where the schools rank in that list.
“If you look at our side last year, no one thought we would be able to win two out of three matches at Craven Week but we made it happen because we are intentional about cohesion and playing for a bigger vision.
“There is nothing like putting children together that are underdogs and we were able to beat the odds last year and hope to do it again.”
