Rugby Captains. In our series on sport captains, Schools That Rock talks to Aphelele Dlamini. Aphelele is the captain of Curro Vanderbijlpark, U17 rugby team. Today Aphelele scores our eighth try in this rugby captains series for high schools in South Africa.
“I started playing rugby at the age of eight years. The reason I am passionate about rugby, is because it pushes me to improve my physical powers more than anything. Furthermore the contact situations are very exciting.
The position I currently play, is Scrum-half. I previously also played as centre. The first time I was appointed as rugby captain, was in grade 7, under 13.
The qualities that make a good rugby player, is power, pace, skills, endurance and decisive decision making.
Our team has two to three training sessions per week. I’ve also started attending gym sessions.
My individual highlight playing rugby for myself, was when I scored seven tries in one match. My most stressful rugby game was playing Curro Hazeldean. They were better at defense and offense and dynamic play. My most exciting game was against my ‘alma mater’ in grade 7. Our teams were virtually evenly matched, so it made the match a lot of fun.
Top five priorities:
Ranking my current top five priorities in life:
- Developing myself and my character
- Having fun
- Playing sport
- Academics
- Earning an income
My role model is Makazole Mampimpi. I admire his elite offense abilities and air tight defense.
As rugby captain I motivate my team by being very vocal on the pitch. I always highlight to my team what they are excelling in. What I’ve learned about teamwork from my past experiences on teams, as well as captain, is that communication is vital. It is best to pair up in groups that compliment players’ skills.
My advice for new rugby players, is to ask experienced team mates for help and develop your fitness so that you can learn more skills and dynamic play.
When I see a team mate struggling with learning a new move, position or play, I assist them, either through theory or give practical reference-play so that they can learn through experience.
Best advice
My coach and fellow teammates will describe me as hard working, passionate, confident and knowledgeable. The best advice I have received from my coaches, is to practice my individual skill during my free time at home.
I think my team achieved the things it did successfully because of good communication skills, discipline and unity.
Yes, I plan on continuing rugby after school. I would like to play professionally for as long as I can. Moving forward, I will develop my performance by spending extra hours in training, increased fitness exercises, getting in-game experience and also re-watching matches to gain more knowledge.
I believe the greatest challenge faced by today’s sport participants is that there are many more players with a wide variety of skills. It increases the difficulty of getting into clubs as well as performing well on the field.
Managing my rugby responsibilities and other recreational and non-recreational (academic) activities, I finish my academic work at night so I can train and have fun during the day and in my free time.
What excites me most in life, is fun and high risk situations that result in injury. My single greatest highlight the past five years, was going to Mauritius to play rugby. Playing sports was fun but I really enjoyed what me and the boys did in our free time.
The professional rugby player I would you like to have coffee with is Makazole Mampimi. He is a very composed and humble rugby player.
I will describe myself in one word: Determined.”
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