Boots for the Boys & Girls Wants to Put More Young Rugby Players on the Field

Photo Credit: Siyathemba via Pexels

Boots for the Boys & Girls will collect used school rugby boots and redistribute them to talented young players from disadvantaged communities.

Eastern Cape, South Africa (15 September 2026) – One pair of old rugby boots could be the difference between a talented youngster sitting on the sidelines and getting the chance to show what they can do.

That is the thinking behind Boots for the Boys & Girls, a new Eastern Cape initiative encouraging school rugby players to donate their boots once their playing days at school come to an end.

The idea came to The EcoVenturist founder Paul Gardiner while watching young players competing in the Mzwandile Mali Schools Rugby Champions League in KwaNobuhle.

The league is creating competitive opportunities for 138 schools from disadvantaged communities across the Eastern Cape, but Gardiner noticed something that had little to do with the rugby itself.

The players had talent. What they didn’t always have was the equipment to match it.

“I was watching these youngsters playing in KwaNobuhle and what struck me was the talent,” says Gardiner. “But then I started looking at their feet. Some of these boys were playing rugby in their school shoes or everyday shoes. There were no mouthguards, very little protective equipment, and they were playing on a field that was basically a dirt track.”

That observation sparked the initiative.

“These kids weren’t short of talent. They were short of equipment. That really touched me, and Boots for the Boys & Girls was born.”

The first collection box will officially launch at St Andrew’s College in Makhanda on 18 September.

For Gardiner, who recently returned to the Eastern Cape after 23 years abroad and is an Old Andrean, starting at his former school made sense.

The campaign is backed by Isuzu South Africa, Nyosi Wildlife Reserve and Kloppers Sport, together with the Mzwandile Mali Schools Rugby Champions League.

Lincoln Mali, founder of the rugby league, says the initiative addresses a problem his organisation sees regularly.

“Boots for the Boys & Girls speaks directly to what we see every week on our fields young players with the ability to go all the way, held back by the basics. This partnership is exactly the kind of support our schools need, and we’re proud to stand behind it.”

The next step is getting more schools involved across the province.

The Eastern Cape has already produced some of South African rugby’s biggest names, including Siya Kolisi and Makazole Mapimpi.

Now the initiative is asking: how many more players are out there, waiting for the right opportunity?