Three Hudson Park coaches have been called up to do duty for SA youth rugby.
Coach Ntando Kebe, also the former Swallows Rugby Club coach, has been named head coach for the U16 Grant Khomo Week and will be joined by coach Onke Dubase.
Dubase will serve as assistant coach at the U18 Craven Week.
Coach Viwe Baleni has been appointed as head coach of the U18 Academy Week.
Their selection highlights the school’s growing influence in youth rugby and is an indication of the depth of coaching talent within the Hudson rugby ranks.
Kebe told the Go! Sports he was honoured to coach the U16 side, which he believes is packed with potential.
“I’m quite happy and interested to see what the future holds for the players,” Kebe said.
He said the national team struggled with limited practice time, but he had confidence in them.
“Players often arrive after Saturday school matches.
“Their bodies are sore and you need their commitment, but unfortunately, we never get it done in only one day,” he said.
To work around this, Kebe intends to introduce two-day elite player development camps in March.
The camps will help players bond and improve their game preparation.
“We will stay in one place and practice,” he said.
The focus will be “basics and core skills” at the U16 level, which he feels are mostly lacking at this age.
He wants to build in these fundamentals so that players are ready for the youth weeks and future rugby opportunities.
He wants to see strong performances, but remains realistic that the teams cannot win every match that they play.
The young teams needed to be coached to adapt to the high-performance environment.
“Some of them, you can see that, okay, this is new.”
Kebe and his staff will meet in January to map out a detailed plan for the June and July tournament season.
“By that time we must be sitting in a good space, and we know exactly what we want and what we have.”
He welcomed the addition of a new team manager and emphasised teamwork among the technical staff.
“We’re looking forward to working as a technical team,” Kebe said.
Hudson’s brand of coaching is starting to be felt in national youth rugby.
