Sports Trader reports back : Rugby in the Western Cape got a boost this week when the Laureus Foundation made The Legends Cup Trust their latest funded project

Miguel Indurain, Morne du Plessis and Daley Thompson holding their Mitre balls

The aim of the Legends Cup project, founded in 2009, is to get vulnerable children in disadvantaged areas off the streets and offer them an alternative to crime through participation in regular rugby practices and leagues. Mitre supplies balls for the project.

First coaches are trained through courses that will bring their skills up to IRB standards. They then organise league games played in zones where the schools are so close that transport is no problem. So far more than 1 700 players from 80 schools in ten zones on the Cape Flats have been involved in matches. Then combined sides from each of the zones compete in the Mega 10 tournament, where a Legends Cup Gazelles team is formed that goes on tour.

Projects funded by Laureus must all have a social upliftment component and this project is teamed with Cool To Be Me, a NGO that teaches lifeskills in schools, in particular to instill a sense of self-worth and respect in children from gang- and violence-rife communities. Several Laureus Academy members – all sporting greats committed to using their fame in order to draw attention Laureus projects – attended the launch. Among them were former Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurain, the first to win the Tour de France five times, England’s Olympic gold medallist in decathlon Daley Thompson, former Banyana Banyana captain Desiree Ellis and rugby Springbok Bryan Habana.