The Siripats lions Rugby Club is a mentorship club that supports, train and mentors young children from informal settlements to learn rugby and touch rugby.
The club works to lessen drug misuse, high rates of crime, and other detrimental effects in rural and informal communities locally and globally. The club was founded in 2019 and has its headquarters in Resevier Hills, Durban.
The siripats Lions Club believes that every South's African child should grow up In a healthy, safe and nurturing environment therefore the club teaches them how to respect one another, how to become better versions of them selves through playing rugby.
Siripats Club empowers the youth to become leaders of the New Germany community to address a lot of factors affecting the informal settlements and to groom those who are younger to them.
"The difference between us and the other rugby club is that we work a lot with children from the informal settlements, both boys and girls- we also focus heavily on life skills and social development", say Coach Deon.
"Player mentorship is a core pillar"
The club had been collaborating with other rugby clubs, but due to differences in thinking and values, they made the decision to separate and create The Siripats Lions Rugby Club.
The Dubai rugby club gives t-shirts for kids as part of a partnership between the club and the largest rugby clubs, Sharks and other Dubai rugby teams.
One of their main objectives is to make the kids happy, so in order to motivate them, Coach Deon organizes a Christmas party each year to celebrate and motivate the kids to play more and put in more effort in the club. To do this, he surprises the kids with gifts and awards for those who have performed well all year long.
"To becomee a leader to children, you need to lead by example, lead by managing time, so that the children will be able to be well taught", Coach Deon.
The club have faced a lot of challenges throughout their journey, having to face financial problem to grow their club, make the team t-shirt.
During the 2021 looting, the club was impacted by the disastrous turmoil in which their practice hall was smashed into, forcing the municipality to close it down.
"The catastrophic upheaval has cost us a lot, to the point where we can't even use the toilets because they're locked, and the municipality has taken away the keys, forcing us to pee in the bushes, which is dangerous for the kids, especially the females, but we're trying to find a solution", says Coach Deon.
Despite their challenges, they still continue on doing whats good for them as well as for the kids, making them stay strong and firm.
Comments