President of the South African Deaf Rugby Union (Sadru) Tim Stones has been named manager of the Deaf Springbok (DeafBoks) Squad for the 2014 KwaZulu-Natal Tour.
President of the South African Deaf Rugby Union (Sadru) Tim Stones has been named manager of the Deaf Springbok (DeafBoks) Squad for the 2014 KwaZulu-Natal Tour.
Stones said they are excited about the upcoming tour. "It will serve to promote the game of rugby among the deaf community in South Africa and help us identify and develop our deaf rugby stars, with a view to working towards competing in the 2015 Deaf Rugby World Cup. I am thrilled to be a part of this squad,” said Stones.
Joost van der Westhuizen is the squad's Patron.
The KZN tour will take place during March 2014. “Sadru believes that this squad has the potential to develop into a force to be reckoned with in the international deaf rugby world,” said Stones.
"We still have a long way to go as we work towards affiliation with SA Rugby, but we are gaining the support of several Unions, and we believe it won't be long before we achieve our dream of once again wearing the green and gold in Deaf Rugby internationals."
Stones became active in Deaf sports administration in the Boland and Western Cape, primarily in athletics, but also SA Deaf Cycling in late 2007.
He then became chairman of the Boland Deaf Sports Association, and executive member of the Western Cape Deaf Sports Federation.
At this time he met the previous Sadru president. He had moved to England, where he was representing the England Deaf Rugby Union.
Stones acquired the full records of SA Deaf Rugby and was tasked with working to reconstitute the organisation. For the first few years Stones worked on his own and then, later, with support from Vernon Vice, Sadru's current vice president.
They met with officials of SA Rugby, where Sadru outlined their vision for deaf rugby in South Africa. Sadru is required to be affiliated with Saru as an Associate Member in order to have Tests recognised by the International Rugby Board.
“For this to happen, we need the formal backing of at least four Unions in SA. So far, we have the support of the KZN Rugby Union, and verbal support (but not yet written) from a few other Unions,” said Stones.
Stones said Sadru now has a pool of more than 40 players. “Following the 2014 Tour, our mid-term goal is to be affiliated with SA Rugby, after which we will be able to put things into place to send a fully representative Deaf Springbok Team to compete at the 2015 Deaf World Cup,” said Stones.
For more information, members of the public and potential sponsors are invited to contact Stones directly at sadrumail@gmail.com or visit their newly launched website: www.sadru.co.za
