Lighting issue creates problems for rugby clubs
Van der Linde says a lot of players have left because of this issue.
Cable theft has left the Boksburg PG Park and Reiger Park Sports Arena with no working floodlights.
This has affected the preparations of the Boksburg and East Rand United (ERU) rugby clubs for the Valke Peregrine League.
This was the view of Boksburg Rugby Club chairperson Rinus van der Linde, who told the Advertiser that this problem was harming the development of rugby,
“Our club and ERU are definitely in jeopardy because of the issues we face with power. We’ve got serious challenges. Our training sessions happen after hours when coaches are available yet we can’t train after 18:00 as we’ve got no lights.”
The Valke Peregrine League is set to kick off in April and the union has confirmed that there will be matches that take place in the evening.
Van der Linde explained that they are sharing the B field with other teams as it is the only one with working floodlights.
“The A field, which we use for our training, has no lights and two towers work on the B field with only half the lamps functioning.
“We have to share one pitch (B field) with three other teams for practice. There is just not enough space for everyone.
“We are in a predicament and with winter coming, we won’t be able to train as it becomes darker early. If things continue like this, we will run into problems where we can’t develop players, play and end up losing players.”
The chairperson of ERU, Marius de Vos, bemoaned the lack of action from the City of Ekurhuleni as this matter has been longstanding.
“Requests have been submitted to the facility senior manager to get the floodlights repaired as a matter of urgency. To date, there is no sign of commitment from the facility manager to suggest that the issue of lighting will be addressed,” said de Vos.
De Vos told the paper that ERU has spent exorbitantly on a generator to keep the lights on at Reiger Park Sports Arena.
“ERU is currently spending lots of money, which we don’t have, to hire a generator to light up the recently repaired floodlights.”
The Advertiser has sent an enquiry to the metro, but a response is yet to be received.
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