The story of Westville Old Boys rugby is borne of humble beginnings on the shoulders of passionate Westville locals. In the late 1990’s, a group of rugby-mad lads took a crack at starting a Senior Rugby team at what was until then only a soccer club – and a great one, at that! After a short while Westville Old Boys was able to field a 1^st team which competed in the 3^rd Division, and an Under 21 side which played in the B-Division.

Only a handful of years ago, new blood was injected into the club when it was decided to take the senior team from a B-League to a Premier Division side. Rob Scott was ultimately the mastermind behind this and, true to form, emulating his playing days, our club’s goal was achieved. In 2022, our First and Second Teams achieved second place in both the Premier and Premier Reserve League. A special mention must be made of Trevor Wishardt whose company, Synergy, among other generous sponsors, gave the boys the opportunity to display their talents. 2023 will see another milestone in our young rugby club’s history as we play in the prestigious Gold Cup – a real honour for any rugby player.

Next came the idea of Mini Rugby, which was spearheaded by a certain gentleman named Jeff Little. He did a great job and, before long, our weekends were jampacked with both Senior and Under 21 games, as well as Mini Rugby. Unfortunately, once Jeff left this section, it left a hole that no one was ready to run, and so Mini Rugby fell away just as fast as it had risen.

A good few years later in 2015, Shane van der Westhuizen, who was involved with Senior Rugby at the time, and shared the same dream that Jeff had had, went about reestablishing Mini Rugby at WOBs once more. The main club’s fields were busy with soccer and Senior Rugby, and so Mini Rugby was given permission to play on the top field, named The Leigh Cox field.

Over the next few years, Junior Rugby saw a steady growth in numbers, which lead to WOBs entering at least 1 side from Under 7’s to Under 15’s each season. Following the disruption of Covid, the boys returned with more passion than ever, which meant that 2022 had a bumper turnout, and for the first time, this section truly came to light. Our teams participated in the DRSU league, and our talent shone through, leading to a few of our boys being selected for the IPT teams which represented KZN Club Rugby.

Shane understood that to build upon this success, a team of outstanding and passionate individuals would need to keep driving WOBs Junior Rugby forward. To do this, he asked Thierry de Marigny, one of the coaches at the time, to assist with marketing and sponsorship of our teams. This decision has been a massive part of the recent success of Mini Rugby. As we all know, running a division like this, and providing young players with a quality foundation is a costly endeavour. Thierry, with his phenomenal and extensive experience in rugby and marketing, was able to bring together a group of strong and supportive partners and sponsors to help our cause. We must make special mention of both Span Africa and MiCocina.

The 2023 Mini Rugby (Under 7 – Under 11) season drew to a close at the end of June, and we recently had our annual prizegiving. Westville Old Boys Junior Rugby management, members, and sponsors are all extremely proud of what was achieved during this season. At our annual prizegiving, we celebrated the achievements of the more than 100 boys that played for us this season, with all our teams enjoying a very successful season. A special mention has to be made of Brooklyn Talbot who scored over 50 tries for our Under 7’s and received a special performance award from the DRSU.

Just as Shane van der Westerhuizen was involved in Mini Rugby from the start, the powerhouse couple of Frank and Jacky Teeling have also been instrumental in the resurgence of Mini Rugby. For this commitment, we thank them both for everything that they have done both in the past and present – and no doubt into the future! Jacky is our administration person, and we are very grateful to have someone with her talents handling these duties. Frank is still one of our coaches and always willing to lend a hand.

In July, Westville Old Boys started the Colts season. In our first week of fixtures, we entered an Under 13, Under 15 and Under 18 side, with over 60 boys representing us. None of this would be possible without our sponsors, so we would like to thank our club sponsor, Daisy Business Solutions, as well as our main sponsors, Span Africa and PowaFix, for ensuring that the boys look as sharp as they do in our new kit.

Westville Old Boys Junior Rugby – both Mini’s and Colts – has so much to offer our club and community, and we want to thank everyone that has been involved, particularly our amazing parents and supporters, for getting us to where we are now.

We couldn’t write a story like this without a demonstration of the way that Westville Old Boys Rugby becomes part of a young player’s life, and a special mention to Dylan Rae. Dylan has played Mini Rugby, Colts Rugby, and has now progressed to Senior Rugby at Westville Old Boys in the Premier Division. It is our hope that he will be the first of many of these progression stories to come. Westville has an amazing club, community, school system, sponsors, and above all, talent. There is no reason why we cannot continue to play a part in the development of any young person wanting to play this wonderful game at WOBs.