Baysville High School will stage the first deaf rugby open day, hosted by the Eastern Cape Deaf Rugby Association, in East London on Sunday.
Glentin Huisamen, a player representative for the association, said: “We have never hosted an open day in East London before.
“We are hoping that it might become an annual event, depending on the interest and how well we have grown as an organisation.”
This will be the association’s second open day in 2025 after one in Gqeberha on August 3.
The association hopes the open day will introduce the organisation to potential players who are either interested in learning more about the sport or players who are currently playing for various clubs in East London.
It wants players interested in potentially representing the Eastern Cape at the nationals in Limpopo later in 2025.
The association is relatively new, established in July 2024, and has nine board members and more than 60 registered players from youth to seniors.
“With great growth plans for the remainder of this year we are hoping 2026 will be greater with the 2026 World Deaf Rugby Sevens Championships as our trump card,” Huisamen said.
He said deaf rugby in the province was in serious need of funding and sponsorship.
“We are being assisted with funding from the South African Deaf Rugby Association [SADRA] to run the open days, but have not secured any sponsorships for kit, transport development or coaching.
“Building interest in the sport has also been quite difficult, with ECDRA covering such a large area, getting the information out there has been a bit of a challenge.”
Despite facing several issues, the association is determined to have the same outreach that other provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal have.
Hosting as many open days as it can throughout the province is one of the association’s main methods to reach out to as many potential players as possible.
“We are hoping that other deaf players will contact us, and our presence will eventually grow to such an extent that we can establish regional groups.
“We are reaching out to coaches and assisting scholars to build the sport within the province from the ground up, so to speak. It would also allow us to create our regional events in future,” Huisamen said.
He is among five players from the Eastern Cape who were part of the SA Deaf Rugby Sevens and 10s teams that competed in the championships against the likes of England, Australia and Japan in 2024.
In April 2026, SADRA is set to have a tournament which forms part of the trials for the national team.
Players selected will represent SA at the World Deaf Rugby Sevens tournament being held in Japan later in 2026.
Huisamen also welcomed those who want to volunteer towards its growth, including potential coaches, referees and medical personnel.
“This Sunday, we need a community of talented people who want to see this beautiful game flourish and be part of the journey with us.”
The open day starts at 10am on Sunday and will mark a significant shift in deaf rugby in East London.
Daily Dispatch
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