LOCAL rugby coaches and referees attended the BokSmart course at the Queen’s College Auditorium in Komani as they renewed their accreditations recently.
The course was made possible by the South African Rugby Union (SARU) in partnership with Border Rugby Union and the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture in the Chris Hani District. It was conducted by SARU facilitator and former Border Bulldogs flanker, Lungelo Malgas.
The biennial BokSmart certification is compulsory for anybody who wants to coach or referee rugby in South Africa at any level.
BokSmart provided coaches and referees with the knowledge and skills to apply safe rugby techniques and basic medical and injury prevention practices.
The three-and-a-half-hour course featured everything from rugby safety-related laws, concussion identification, treatment and management, technical preparation and safer contact techniques for scrums, tackles and the breakdown contest, and red flags to identify serious head, neck and spinal injuries.
DSRAC’s Mawethu Maseti recommended coaches and referees of all levels of rugby to get their BokSmart certification.
“This is a very important initiative for player safety, at all levels of the game. It is extremely important and BokSmart provides a lot of necessary knowledge for both coaches and referees at both professional and amateur level,” Maseti said.
One of the coaches who attended the course was Ngqwarhu Sports Club coach, Siyabonga Ngwenya and he said he enjoyed the programme.
Ngwenya was the head coach of Chris Hani Ladies’ rugby team at this year’s Geneva Scholtz Women’s Rugby Tournament in Middelburg.
“I really enjoyed the BokSmart course. I learnt a lot about concussions, for instance, which is very common in this game,” Ngwenya said.
