South African Rugby Legends Association

Through SARLA's many development clinics where rugby development was the major focus, we decided to raise the bar and take our development program to a new level, which would have a major impact on the type of rugby players that we wished to churn out. It is great to teach and coach youngsters about the skill of rugby and make them better players, but it is even more fantastic to make them better people and champions who can go back into their communities and influence their peers (who look up to them) and in turn make them all better people.

We do this through synergy with the respective provincial unions around the country. Most provinces have talent identification tournaments around their province, which generally starts off with 4500 kids and ends with a select 40.

For example, the Sharks formula - they have 11 major tournaments in each municipality from as far north as Pongola to as far south as Kokstad with approx 200 teams participating in age groups U13, U15 and U17, the winners will then be part of the final tournament. From this final tournament the selectors identify the top 40 boys participating in each age group however we are more interested in the 17 years old who are at a cross road in their lives and who have the ability to make a difference as they come from all corners of the province, these boys will also play as a team in other select tournaments the following year in their last year of school.

These are our Iqhawe or champions and we enlist them on an 8-month Social development program fitting in with their educational commitments and having courses, which includes:
i] Aids Awareness thru the No Apologies program:
    a) The building and strengthening of character is crucial to development. Good judgment, courage and self-control are some of the qualities promoted through the No Apologies programme. Abstinence is 100% effective in building a young person's self esteem, responsibility, leadership qualities and relationship abilities.
    b) The No Apologies programme approaches sexuality by seeking an understanding of the five developmental areas of the human person: intellectual, emotional, social, physical and ethical - all involved during the sexual decision-making process.
    c) The programme encourages the development of sound life skills and makes no apologies about promoting sexual abstinence before marriage, thereby positively influencing the AIDS crisis we face. It is imperative that we ensure that those not infected with AIDS are informed and know how to avoid becoming one of the statistics. Abstinence is 100% effective against the spread of HIV/AIDS and other STDs.
    d) The South African Government has endorsed the programme through the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, and has piloted several projects in KZN schools.

ii] Drug Awareness thru How to drug proof the Youth program:
¤ Drug use in the community; ¤ Key factors leading to drug and alcohol misuse; ¤ Becoming aware of the misuse; ¤ Understanding drugs and drug misuse ¤ Helping kids respond to peer pressure

iii] Handling life as a youth thru Life on the Edge program:
Traits of Excellence:

A Quality Producer	An Independent Learner
A Creative Thinker	A Critical Thinker
An Information Manager	A Cooperative Learner
An Effective Communicator	A Confident Leader
A Time Manager	A Self-Assessor

v] Bonding them as a unit or team thru the Spirit of Adventure program:
Specially crafted courses, which continually challenge the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual abilities of each person with the aim of developing Personal and Inter-Personal skills among individuals and groups by way of team building, team effectiveness training and personal development.
To achieve this aim, Spirit of Adventure uses a combination of mental and physical exercises, including adventurous outdoor activities on land, rock and water. Additional reinforcement is provided by way of lectures, discussions and reviews.

vi]. Teaching them about what is right and wrong through life's principles
We use organizations who are equipped to deal with our youngsters or champions and offer them the courses above, such as Focus on the Family (SA) which is a non-profit, non-denominational organisation founded by Danie Van den Heever in 1992. Their outreach program offers a variety of solutions to world problems including AIDS/HIV and drugs, as well as Spirit of Adventure founded by Andy Telfer. We will also be using Rugby Legends who have made a commitment in their lives to make a difference in other people's lives from a personal perspective; they'll work hand in hand with these specialists on the outreach programs to ensure that these champions return to their communities as a beacon of light and become leaders whereby their peers will follow the right path.