Newcastle Schools, brace yourselves, St Dominics Newcastle introduces rugby

A new era of sporting culture has been greenlighted at St Dominics Newcastle—one which will see the Newcastle-based private school expanding its sporting division into that of the rugby world.

Ensuring the expansion of the sporting curriculum takes flight without a hinge, St Dominics Newcastle sought the expertise of local coach Raymond van Niekerk, who has been appointed as the new Director of Sports at the Curro school. 

Newcastle and Northern KwaZulu-Natal, being a proud schools rugby region in the province, will undoubtedly benefit from this new venture.

Raymond expands on the subject, stating he and his team have already placed the necessary order for the rugby equipment. He smiles and explains, “We will officially begin training in December. The age groups of the teams will be from under seven to under 17.”

Looking at integrating and connecting the Curro culture with the town’s rich rugby history, Raymond and his team look forward to elevating the school’s impact on the treasured local pastime. This will include seeing St Dominics Newcastle participating in the National Curro Rugby Cup in the upcoming year—as well as participating in a series of local rugby tournaments and the Sharks school rugby tournaments.

But this is not the only avenue in which St Dominics Newcastle will be enhancing their sports department.

Gary de Jager, Newcastle High School’s former Sports Director, will be accompanying Raymond and will be overseeing the high school sport’s division, and long-time sports coach at St Dominics Newcastle, Blessing Khumalo, will manage the primary school’s sports—this all culminating into a steadfast team within the school’s sports department.

Gary adds, “We also want to look at introducing other sports codes while perfecting the existing codes so that we can become the sports hub within the area.” Emphasising the point Raymond affirms, it is of the utmost importance for his team to cater for all sports codes. “St Dominics Newcastle has state-of-the-art equipment in place. Therefore, we now want to expand on the sporting codes.”

One of the sports the school will now look at enhancing is hockey. Raymond states that the St Dominics hockey team is already dominant, but through extra attention, the school’s teams can become virtually unstoppable. While Raymond, Blessing and Gary are determined to see the school foster development in sports, Raymond explains an enormous responsibility now rests on their shoulders.

He clarifies, “As a sports committee, we want to see the coaches grow and develop as well. As this will see, the learners benefit in the long run.”

Unbeknown to many, Raymond has a vast amount of experience in the rugby world, having worked with the Lions coach, Sean Erasmus. He has also been actively involved as a Sharks Primary School Coach, Craven Week Selector and helped Arbor Park Primary School become a formidable force on the rugby field. This wealth of experience, he says, has taught him the importance of being positive and passing that positivity onto his players.

Gary’s prized knowledge alongside Blessing’s in-depth experience, spearheaded by Raymond’s expertise, is sure to see a new successful chapter being written in local sports. As the school and the community welcome the new team, we wish them success as they embark on this new journey. Pixelfish Marketing and the Newcastillian – Online News would also like to thank Johan Jacobs for his outstanding work at St Dominics Newcastle and we wish him and his wife all the best in their new venture.

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This post and content is sponsored and provided by St Dominics Newcastle