The Beginning

The Beginning

Firstly, this month is a large month of ‘thankyou’s; to the Bosch Rugby Supporters Club and the Boland Old Boys for giving us the opportunity that the training camp afforded the team to develop and grow.
There were some great lectures, work and effort made by the players, coaches, management, support staff and supporters of Rondebosch rugby, thank you! The camp site at Turner’s (E94) Bontebok Ridge was the perfect setting for a team get-a-away.
Training rugby line-outs and performing backline moves whilst the Bontebok looked on seemed odd, yet relaxing. Meal time was a learning process on its own, with the teams having to cook for forty people on military style cookers (fun was the name of the game around supper time). The tents were only used to store the older generation and kit as the team slept under the stars, until it rained.
Secondly, ‘Thanks’ to staff who during the weekend gave the team lectures on various topics; on nutrition - Tarryn Povey, Backline moves - Gareth Wright, Forward play – Robbie Kempson, mental health and goals – Thomas Dawson-Squibb, motivation – Andrew Louwrens and rugby related skills, myself.
1st XV
The 1st XV had a disappointing start to the season with a loss 10-0 against Paul Roos in the Canal Walk Newlands Rugby Day. The 40 minute match played at Newlands under lights offered the coaches the chance at seeing the players in their positions and playing under pressure. The warm up game came just before the Easter break, before the training camp and the King Edwards VII Rugby Festival.
An excellent run of game strategy, planning and player management at the King Edward VII Rugby Festival saw the team climbing the confidence table and start thinking about winning each time they took the field.


The games were dotted with some fantastic displays, especially when the chips were down and our players needed to dig real deep into their fitness and concentration levels. All our matches were against high league opposition and the games won seemed lost in the first half and yet easy in the second. Our play never started off comfortably or to the pre-game plans, only after harsh or stern words at half-time did the team play their normal play.

All in all Rondebosch has some excellent players with the player of the tournament for myself being the captain Chad Matthews, followed by a number of polished performances by Louw NAude, Michael Aristidou, Jamie Croeser and Matthew Foster to name but a few. A lack of experience and depth in the tight five meant that a number of players were shifted each game and taught how to handle these new positions to carry us through the festival. Hopefully this problem has been solved and the best five will now start each game.
The final scores being a win against Westville Boys’ High School 18-15, a narrow loss to KEZ in the dying seconds of the game 24-15, and a well earned win against Pretoria Boys’ High School 22-18.

A huge thank you must be sent to the Headmaster, parents, old boys and staff that attended the festival and supported our efforts.

U15 Paarl Boys Festival
Coaches and players worked as hard as they could to have a team ready for the Paarl Boys Festival. The final results and competition helping the team prepare for the season ahead. The team played against tough opposition and narrowly lost two matches namely, Menlow Park 10-0, Jeppe Boys’ High 14-13 and finally drew against Swartkops from Pretoria 0-0. Thanks to the parents and coaches who gave up their holidays for the benefit of rugby at Rondebosch.

The Way forward
Player moral is high and training on the whole was enjoyable and light on our return from the festival, a number of factors came into play here however competition for places is great hence the feeling that they need to train is that great. The school is lucky to have the top four senior teams almost on par with each other in skills and game readiness, something that might’ve lacked before.
Thankfully we were able to put a team together without many injuries for the Paarl Gim match. The hush that settled across the fields in Paarl last Saturday gave the distinct feeling that not all the games were going the hosts’ way. I must congratulate all the teams for fine performances. The 1st Xv half time score of 3-3 had the opposition reeling, The teams, some narrowly missing out on wins, mostly in the dying seconds of the matches. A tough day in the field but fabulous skills show by several players. Our brand of rugby worked on by all the coaches seems to be working. A feather in the 1st XV’s cap was the decision by Paarl Gim not to scrum against our pack but rather take uncontested scrums, the final score being 13-6. One of the closest scores in the last ten years. This being the second school in just a few matches to crumble under our front row, well done coaches and players.

The u14A rugby team received an unexpected surprise as the 1stXV gave each of the players a token rugby ball before their first match, as Captain to Captain traditions are passed down.
Finally, it was a pleasure to have Springbok Seven’s coach Paul Trau drop by training this week to watch and offer advice to all our coaches. His presence and gentle manner in assisting was of great value to all, ‘thank you’ for your time.

The management and coaches wish all the teams participating in the Wynberg High School Festival the best of luck... Proudly pursuing perfection.

The Huddle March

‘The Bosch Huddle’
Rondebosch Boys’ High School Rugby Newsletter

By Sean Friedenthal, Head of Rugby: RBHS
Issue # 2 March 2009

Welcome to the Rondebosch Boys’ High School Rugby Coaching &
Development Newsletter.

The aim of the newsletter is to provide coaches, players and parents with monthly up-to-date information regarding relevant coaching, training or sporting issues throughout
the course of the year. Each edition will include articles, each specific to junior and senior coaches; general coaching & development news/updates; an upcoming events calendar, and 1st Xv

Rugby specific news.

March brought with it the much awaited rugby trials held for the 1st XV team to be chosen
to represent the school at the King Edward VII Rugby/Hockey Festival being held from
the 8-13 April 2009 and to select a squad of thirty players who would attend a coaching
camp from the 3-5 April 2009 at the Turner’s ‘Bontebok Ridge’ game farm in Wellington.

Some of our biggest headaches for a school coach come from hosting trials, and trying to
get the right balance of selection for the season. Your head tells you one thing, your heart
another and umpteen parents and player opinions confuse matters further. This year a
panel of nine selectors were gathered to steer through these possible troubled waters and
to develop a coherent selection policy.

A clear policy was communicated to the nine coaches as to the selection policy before the
games. Criteria was discussed and agreed upon and followed throughout the process. This
included the asking of questions by the selectors on specific players and their positions.
It must be stressed that the 1st XV coaches are looking for consistency throughout the
season and in order to maintain morale for all the players, the season has been mapped out
with each tournament/match marked in, and then we allocated the balance of players we
intend taking should injuries occur.

Hence the training squad of thirty going on camp.

For the trials held on Sunday 15 March the following criteria was used for selection;
• Handling of the ball
• Defensive capabilities in tackling
• Speed to breakdown and recycling
• Set pieces and effective work rate
• Coach ability
• Ability to read the game and team work
• Position specific duty
• Sportsmanship

The First Fifteen for the KES festival are as follows:
Captain: Chad Matthews Vice- Captain: Stephen Wallace
Leeroy April, Michael Aristidou, Simon Bergman,
Darryn Berry, Jamie Croeser, Josua De Villiers, Justin Fielies, Matthew Foster,
Llyod Gluckman, Edward Gregory, Chris Keet, Andrew Moir, Gareth Muller, Jonty Mylne,
Louw Naude Benjamin Shaw, Nic Simpson, Rayn Smid, Gareth Topkin and Cameron Wright.

Congratulations and ’proudly pursue perfection’.

The subscription to the IMPACT Concussion Programme with Dr Vicky has been very
successful with over 100 players signing up for the base line test. Testing will take place
on two days, Thursday 19 and Friday 20 March. Players must book times to be tested in
the computer room.

A huge ‘Thank you’ is extended to the Boland Old Boys for their contributions towards new
gym weights and their generosity and assistance with the training camp.

It’s all about support!!

Rondebosch Boys’ High School,
Canigou Avenue, Rondebosch
Tel: 021 686 3987 Fax: 021 689 9726

www.rondebosch.com

The Huddle

‘The Bosch Huddle’
Rondebosch Boys’ High School Rugby Newsletter
By Sean Friedenthal, Head of Rugby: RBHS
Issue # 1 February 2009

Welcome to the Rondebosch Boys’ High School Rugby Coaching &
Development Newsletter. The aim of the newsletter is to provide
coaches, players and parents with monthly up-to-date information
regarding relevant coaching, training or sporting issues throughout the
course of the year.

Each edition will include articles, each specific to
junior and senior coaches; general coaching & development news/updates;
an up coming events calendar, and 1st Xv Rugby specific news.

New Staff Members
The coaching staff boosted its ranks with the former Sharks player Clinton Van Rensburg,
assisting the school with backline training especially the 2nd XV. Tom Dawson-Squibb has the task of preparing the mental conditioning and well-being of all the teams whilst on age group specific camps. The first will be the under 16’s running from Friday 27-Saturday 28 March to be held at school.

The 1st XV squad will look to camp in Tulbach from the 3-5 April, just before their KES
tour.

News
The coaching staff have introduced a Mentor programme, with senior and junior players, ‘adopt a team’ for the growth of our ‘Boschie Gees”! and the 1st and 2nd teams have been given the task of assisting a Boys Children Home of street children as part of their community service. The players will be collecting new and used clothing, shoes and sports goods to give to the home.
Coaches and families can expect fun filled days, as part of a de-stressing and team building
exercise.

The pre-season training program finished in its current format on Saturday the 14th of February. The program ran from November over 15 weeks and consisted of weights, speed, and conditioning & 2 x skills sessions per week.

Over the course of the program all participants (57) achieved substantial improvements in core
skill level, strength and speed. The programme will now concentrate on position specific
conditioning, with the fitness and handling skills continuing throughout.

Trial games are set for Sunday 15 March starting at 16:00. Four 30 minute matches will be run, and a squad of 22 announced to go to Johannesburg for the KES festival.

There are still two coaching positions open to our Old Boys who are keen to give back to the Bosch community.

Our rugby boys are encouraged to support the ‘IKEYS’ team at their home games, as numerous
Rondebosch Boys are in the team. The seniors attend the previous game, the u15 the 16 February and the u16’s will attend the 9 March at 16h15.

Thanks

Rondebosch Rugby would like to thank the Bosch Rugby Supporters’ Club for their assistance with financial bursaries to numerous young players, and to the Boland Old Boys for their contributions towards new gym equipment. We encourage all our parents to join the Bosch Rugby Supports Club.

It’s all about support!!

Rondebosch Boys’ High School,
Canigou Avenue, Rondebosch
Tel: 021 686 3987 Fax: 021 689 9726
www.rondebosch.com

No matter who wins the election...

Today is October 28th, 2008... and during these few hours
that make up today, you will be given the same amount of
time that billionaires have, the same amount of time that
leaders in every industry have... the same amount of time
the president has.

You have more control over what happens today in your life
than anyone else... that is true in most cases, unless
today is the day someone else decides your fate, based on
things you did on previous days...

In S.A. we have an election coming up next year. A
historic election... because there a lot of major issues at
stake.

But, hmmmmm...

It seems the same was true 4 years ago, and 8 years ago,
and 12 and 16...

40 years ago, there was lot at stake, too.

In fact, all throughout history, there were always changes
happening... and all throughout history, there were always
financial winners and financial losers.

The winners won no matter who was in office, no matter
what industries rose or fell, no matter what new technology
developments occurred.

At all times, there are people who get richer, people who
get poorer and people who always seem to be skidding along,
always just one decision away from complete financial ruin.
It's times like these -- when financial markets are in
upheaval -- that simply expose the mistakes people have
been making all along.

Now, concerning this election or any other, for that
matter, I hope you don't believe that your whole future
rests on who becomes our next president.
Because, frankly, it doesn't matter... or it shouldn't
matter.

As history teaches us, the thing that matters most is what
you do today and tomorrow and...

Today for example, thousands of little boys and girls will
be born into poverty.

They will have nothing.

Their mothers have no great skills. Their fathers will
end up leaving their moms never to return and never to help
them financially in any way. And many of those children
will grow up to be career criminals, stealing what they
can, and selling drugs just to survive.

But a small percentage will break free of it.

And those kids will become more, do more and have more
than the 99.9% of the people who were born into relative
comfort or even into wealth.

Because it doesn't matter who is at the top when you're at
the bottom.

All you can do, all you must do to make your financial
future rock solid, is take the right actions.
Every day.

Like the people who are truly financially secure.
There are hundreds of trainings and courses and mentors
who can teach you what to do. And I'll be sharing many of
them with you over the coming weeks, months and years.
But in order to take fullest advantage of what they teach,
you must BE the kind of person who makes your financial
health important.

You must be that person from the inside.
Or it will never happen.

...regardless of who is in office
...regardless of whether it's raining or snowing
...regardless of whether the planet is heating up or cooling
...regardless of who their boss is
...regardless of what province or country they live in

Yes, it's true that some situations are better to be in
than others...

Some politicians will make it easier. Some weather
patterns are more helpful than others. Some industries are
rising while others are falling. Some bosses help. Some
hurt.

And yes, it's easier to make it in some countries.

That is why mindset is so important.

The right mind can wipe out all your disadvantages and
level the playing field for you.

You CAN be financially independant... secure...

You CAN be free.

No matter who wins next year... or ever.

It starts inside.

Why brilliant people fail?

Yesterday afternoon I was in a rugby meeting, and the ball got
rolling with discussion about a question I got from a player
about his fear of stepping out of his older brother's
shadow... of taking action on what has evolved into his
passion.
He's young and wants to go into business and learn how to
manage and run a growing organization with the dream one
day of going into either politics or journalism. He also
wants to lose over 10 kilo’s and keep it off for good
because he wants to be taken seriously, and knows that he
is seen as weak by many people.
And it makes him feel weak, too, knowing that he hasn't
been able to control his food urges and be super healthy.
Wanting to be a leader of people, he said he knows that
he must get in control over himself before he can lead
others effectively.

I told him that those are huge ambitions that would
require total dedication, confidence and the ability to
stare fear in the face and squash it... take its power away.
Because there is very little in life that can stop you
from doing things you truly want to do.

Big goals and dreams are just like small ones except that
there are more steps, they take longer and when you get
closer, the risks are higher. Because in life, when you
want something very cool, you are probably competing with
other people... they want the same thing you do.

Or they just don't want you to succeed, and remind them of
their mediocrity... how they aren't going after their
dreams. Dream stealers. These are people you want to stay
away from.

Every big goal you could have has its own risks.
You can tick-off family and friends who don't want you to
change, grow, get new friends that aren't like them, and/or
they don't want you to move away.

Their wrath can come out in a lot of strange ways.
The big thing is when you endure failures, or get slowed
on your journey toward success (at anything), you will be
criticized... sometimes mercilessly. Often this hammering
can come from inside your own family...the exact people who
are supposed to be on your side.

You must push on.

If you fall down or get derailed enough times on your path
toward your dreams, your reputation can take many massive
hits. And ooooooh, it can hurt.

Make you want to quit.
Criticism can HURT.
But it won't kill you. And it does not have to stop you.
There can be other things to fear...
Loss of money and security.
Loss of physical health, in the form of injury or even the
risk of death.
But you can keep going in spite of the risks.

Now, I've seen many people take stupid, unnecessary risks.
I've taken my share of ill-advised gambles.

But there are two ways of handling failures (mistakes,
setbacks, errors, accidents, delays).
They can either stop you, where the only thing you learn
is that you are never going to reach your objective...
OR, they can make you more determined, teaching you dozens
of lessons that you use to win in the future.

It's always our choice.
Because if your life is the same now as it was 5 or 10
years ago, it's fear that made it that way.
If you are on the path to having a life, in 5 or 10 years,
that looks about the same as it does right now, it's fear
that will make it so.

Because every day we are given choices.
Most people can be pretty much whatever they make their
mind up to be. The average person has scary high
potential. But the average person uses hardly any of it.
Either you stare down fear, and go after your biggest
dreams every single day, or you do little and end up with a
meaningless life.

Releasing the fears that are stamped on us when we are
children is the key to unlocking your unlimited potential.
Shrinking the lifelong fears that have kept you small,
unimportant, unappreciated, underutilized, and way too
often unwanted or unloved can be so easy.

It's all in how you communicate with yourself.
When you change the way you communicate with yourself,
through your habitual, moment-by-moment mental pictures,
your affirmations, the questions you are posing to yourself
all through the day... when you make yours similar to the
people who are now doing what you want to do, then your
days will magically get better.

Because doing what you need to do to make those dreams
come true, in all areas of your life, mental and physical
health, education, relationships, spiritual, career,
financial, will become natural. Easy.

A snap.

The way to happiness

I woke up this morning.
That was a good start.
And it got even better, fast...
Because I noticed that the first thought that came to me
was about one of the primary goals I wanted to achieve
today.

Then in rapid fire succession - 2 to 5 seconds each - were
thoughts of two parent calls, then the interviews I’m having tonight,
then I thought about the individual tasks that would make all the bigger
things happen without a hitch. This took about 30 seconds -
tops. They exhilarated me.

Then it occurred to me, beginning at about my 31st second
of consciousness, that the average person doesn't think
this way when they wake...

Or if they do think about all the major doings that are
supposed to happen when their eyes open in the morning, it
instantly causes negative stress.

And they say to themselves things like, "Oh, no... Not
again... Just ten more minutes of sleep... Why me?"
Anxiety begins to grow. And if they don't think about
something else fast, panic could be just around the corner,
waiting to put a choke hold on them.

So what results is that Joe Average hates
responsibilities. Anything that could add to the unwanted
stress of greater responsibility is avoided.

And the search for what is most fun in the moment is on.
Reading newspapers or emails, surfing the internet, social
phone calls, SMS’s, etc. Problems get bigger. Time, and
opportunity... and life are wasted.

This is why people smoke too much, drink too much and eat
too much. And why decisions that are obviously good for
them to make are never made. The smartest actions are
never taken.

In fact, hundreds of addictive patterns are often brought
on by an escapism mindset.
So goals are never set, plans are never made, and
achievements are never achieved.

That would be cool if you are just out for a night of fun,
or are on vacation and you're along for the ride.
But to live every day going with the flow is THE recipe
for waking up in ten years finding out that you are the
same as you were tens years ago and that nothing else has
changed either.

It is the recipe for health problems, financial problems,
social problems... ALL problems.
Having no clearly defined challenging goals every day is
not the way.

Growing is the way to happiness.
Having the mindset of a person who is constantly growing,
striving, achieving is the recipe for having a meaningful,
purposeful, happy life.

The happiest people you'll ever meet are almost always the
ones who've done the most, done things that matter, helped
more people, brought more enjoyment to others, created
more, done things better, faster and with less strain.

"I can"

Behaviour, decisions and emotions are guided by many things.

You can't always control situations.
But what you CAN and MUST control is your responses to them.
And to do that, you must always stay determined.

Your confidence must never be rattled.
Your mental pictures must always be of you succeeding and
achieving your desired outcomes.
You must be able to make the choices that are good for you
in the long-term instead of just what is easiest in the
moment.

Because tomorrow will be here soon.
You must be ready for it.
You must have the right attitude and outlook.
You must be looking in the right direction.
Because sad, scared, depressed, and angry is no way to live.

Mere "positive thinking" is not enough.
"I can do it"will last a little while, maybe.

But in order to achieve things in more than one area of
life (the one you are most comfortable in),
you need to,you must, and you CAN change a large number of your
patterned ways of thinking.
Not just the "I can" pattern.

It's because change involves altering many thought and
belief patterns.