Villager Voice #4
Wow, it has been and action packed 2 weeks with Cape Town Tens, our first friendly against Sante Fe, intense practices, Club nights, Golf Day organisation and Helderberg “Old Boys” Lunch planning. The Village machine rolls on with the vibe and positive atmosphere growing by the week. Our senior player database is now sitting at around 100 players with practice attendances still at the 70 player levels. The guys have been working hard!!!
Sante Fe Friendly
A great evening was had by all as we hosted a top outfit from Sante Fe. With it being a pre-season friendly for all of us it was agreed that we wouldn’t treat the games as a full out strength vs strength fixture but even with this in mind the passion shown by the guys was breathtaking, many of whom donned the famous white jersey for the very first time.
In the senior section we put out 3 equal strength squads with each squad playing 3 x 20mins chukka’s with the U20’s playing a full game against their U20’s. All 4 teams acquitted themselves admirably with the first 2 senior teams winning their games and the U20’s going marginally down with the last team struggling a bit against a very powerful Sante Fe pack. All in all the exercise was very worthwhile as the guys fought for 1st team places come season time.
Well done to Jannie Bester who was chosen as our club player of the evening and for his efforts won himself a steak dinner at the Brooksider Grill. Jannie put in some monster hits that really set the tone for the evening and showed some deft touches and blistering pace. One to watch this season. This week we have featured Jannie as our first player profile candidate. Please see below.
Our next friendly is set for this coming Tuesday evening against another Argentinian club – Universitario Rugby. Once again we will not be putting out a full on 1st, 2nd and 3rd team but if you would like to see some of the talent at Village this year come down for a watch. If you can’t make Tuesday there is no need to worry as we will playing another Argentinian touring team, The Hindu Club, next Saturday afternoon at the club.
Helderberg “Old Boys” Lunch
Our good friend Dennis Nick has gone above the call of duty and offered to host a lunch with a selection of Villager Old Boys. The lunch will take place on Saturday the 8th of March a few hours before our first “serious” friendly of the season against our Super League A counterparts Helderberg. The plan is to play our full strength teams for this fixture. If you would like to join us for the lunch please could you let Dennis know as soon as possible. His email address is ddn@iafrica.com.
Player Profile – Christiaan Bester
Name: Christiaan Bester
Birthday: 13 May 1990
Age: 23
Position: Looseforward
School: Rondebosch Boys High School
Previous Club/s: UCT (Varsity Cup squad 2010 & 2011)
Favourite Food: Boarding House food
Favourite Music: Frank Sinatra
Hobbies: Building tables and playing tennis
Favourite rugby player: Thierry Dusatoir
Funny Embarrassing Moment on a rugby field: Having my pants pulled down by an opponent during a game.
Rugby Career Highlights: Playing my first ever rugby game for Clanwilliam rugby club age 7.
Best Thing about Villagers: The excitement of helping Villagers become one of the strongest and most respected clubs in the country again and have a great time along the way.
Club Night
This super initiative continues to grow with attendances increasing every week. Last night the R800 rolled over once again to R900 as Cameron “Chairman” Vinokur was not available to claim the prize. Reece Greg won the raffle – a Stormers supporters kit made up of some tasty goodies.
Last week for the bar tab draw Piet Geldenhuys was drawn out of the hat. Apparently the story goes that it was Piet’s birthday and he had to leave early to go for dinner. Bad luck Piet. With regards to the raffle we had bumper prizes as it was our Valentines edition with Vince Lederle (our 4th team chairman) winning some wine, Graham “Milf” Lindemann taking home a Valentines goody bag, which no doubt was used to make up for some recent boozy nights, and Dave Edwards, our club manager, taking the Ster Kinekor tickets.
Introduction to new Coaching Staff
This week we have the U20a team coaching staff:
Dave Mallett
Dave Mallet – Most of you will know this legend within our community. We are extremely happy to welcome Dave back as he takes on the U20’s head coach role. Dave is teaching at Bishops.
Richard Smith
Richard Smith – Played a bit of rugger at Maties and also joins us from Bishops where he coached the 1st team with Dave.
Charles Carey
Charles Carey – A man of vast coaching experience who also comes across with Gunner from UCT. Day to day Charles is an internal sales and marketing consultant at Openminds IT Solutions.
Welcome to VFC guys and best of luck for the season ahead.
Cape Town Tens
A great weekend was had by all as Village dominated the gees at this awesome event. As mentioned in the last letter this was never a title seeking event for us but more of a teambuilding exercise hence the guys struggling on the field but really bonding on and off the field. If you haven’t seen it yet please make sure you watch this video of the Village vibe. Amazing!!!
Golf Day
We still have 2 four ball spots available if any of you would like a last minute entry. It would be great if you could join us. The prizes on offer are superb and the field is one of real Village okes. Details below:
When: Sunday 23 February
Where: Mowbray Golf Club
Price: R1,600 per 4 ball (includes green fees & lunch) – discounted rate for current players, single entries welcome
To Book: Please reply to this email or contact Dave at 0216836704.
Sponsorship: If you would like to sponsor on the day we are offering R1,000 sponsorship per hole. This will give you branding on the tee and/or green.
Thank You’s & Well Wishes
To all of you have supported our golf day. Thanks guys. It means a lot to the club and the organisors.
Our thoughts go out to Kevin Locke, one of our U20’s, who received a massive hit against Sante Fe on Monday night leaving him with concussion, a broken wrist and a broken jaw. All the best with the recovery bud.
Club Planner for the next 2 weeks
| Thurs 20 Feb | Fri 21 | Sat 22 | Sun 23 | Mon 24 | Tues 25 | Wed 26 |
| Open & U20 Rugby Prac – 6:15pmFourths Prac – 6:15pmClub Night – 8pm | Ultimate Frisbee – World’s TrialsVenue Hire
(21st) – 7pm |
Open & U20 Rugby Prac – 6:15pmUltimate Frisbee – 7:45pmBarleyCorn – Evening | Universitario Club Friendly – 6pm | 6 Down Touch League – from 4pm | ||
| Thurs 27 | Fri 28 | Sat 1 March | Sun 2 | Mon 3 | Tues 4 | Wed 5 |
| Open & U20 Rugby Prac – 6:15pmFourths Prac – 6:15pmClub Night – 8pm
|
Hindu Club Friendly – from 1:30pm | Open & U20 Rugby Prac – 6:15pmUltimate Frisbee – 7:45pm | Open & U20 Rugby Prac – 6:15pmFourths Prac – 6:15pm | 6 Down Touch League – from 4pm |
Kind Regards
Anton & Bruce
