THE CLUB GOES INTERNATIONAL

Elsies River United RFC launched their Under 19 Youth Rugby tour to Namibia on Sunday 26 September 2010. Those attending the launch included Club Officials, Life Members, senior Club members, sponsors, parents and friends. The tour stretches over the September 2010 school vacation [27 September 2010 to 03 October 2010] and the itinerary includes four [4] matches against teams from Vioolsdrift, Mariental, Reoboth and Windhoek.

The legendary Phillip Heynes provided some inspiration to the players going on tour after the tours group was introduced: Lazio Henkerman, Revonne Saayman, Alphonso Moses, Jason Daniels, Edgar Swarts, Selwyn Abrahams, Grant Lesch, Tre-Leigh Jacobs, Kegan Karriem, Grant Fisher, Tashwell Waldeck, Clayton de Klerk, Kurt Dodgen, Chesne Dreyer, Romano Fritz, Brandon Minnaar, Craig Maarman, David Skippers [Coach], Winston Abrahams [Manager], Martin Lesch [Youth Rugby Coordinator], William Alexander [Director of Rugby] and Mike vd Heuwel [Tour Organiser].

The tour has been made possible by contributions from those going on tour, sponsors and those making contributions either of a financial nature or otherwise; including Western Province Rugby and SA Rugby.

A TRULY COMMUNITY CLUB GROWING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH

For the Club, success is not just attributed to performance on the field, but also the impact of the Club on the community at large. During 2009 the Club established a youth rugby component and this component grew in 2010 to field three [3] youth rugby teams, thereby exposing more than 75 kids from the Elsies River and surrounding communities to the game of rugby and offering an alternative to drugs, gangsterism and other social evils. It is envisaged that the number of youth rugby teams will increase in 2011 and that sufficient interest exists for the establishment of a women's rugby team.

The Club also in 2007/2008 “adopted” three [3] communities collectives and identified areas for assistance where these community collectives benefitted from funding made available through the National Lotteries Distribution Trust fund. The beneficiaries were:

1.       Salberau Retirement Village

2.       Nazereth House

3.       Tehillah Collaborative

The Club has also continued its longstanding relationships with other community collectives such as Serene Ages and Arcadia Pigeon Club.

2010 Rugby Season

The Club's 2010 rugby season concluded during September 2010 with the last home game against Goodwood - obvioulsy Elsies won and ended 4th on the log in the WP Club Rugby Premier League A competition. But what a season!!! Quite a few interesting gems were unearthed...