The staff and athletes of the Eastern Cape Academy of Sport welcome Gap Sports athletes Tim Plail, Johan Knapp and Dave Gairn to South Africa and ECAS. They will be spending the next 6 weeks at ECAS and undergo an intensive sport-specific programme designed to assist their development. Tim, Johan and Dave join a long list of young athletes  from the United Kingdom who have benefitted from ECAS' sport science expertise - all under the African sun!

(From left) Tim Plail, Dave Gairn and Johan Knapp at the ECAS High Performance Unit

International sport and recreation establishment Gap Sports has a partnership with a local sport development organisation, Umzingisi. ECAS has been assisting Umzingisi in  conducting a development programme for the various Gap Sports athletes, mostly in cricket, rugby and hockey. ECAS sport scientist Bonolo Ramphomane has been working with the Gap Sports athletes for the past three years. Her input has been  in conducting sport-specific fitness training and testing, video analysis and feedback, sport psychology as well as injury  prevention methods with the Gap Sports athletes.

ECAS sport scientist Bonolo Rmaphomane directs the Gap Sports athletes  during a speed endurance test

Here is what the 3 athletes had to say:

Tim Plail (18) is a hockey player from Eastbourne, south of London. Comfortable on either wing, Tim said, "I'm here at ECAS to improve my game and prepare for the start of our hockey season. When I return to England in October, I will be right on time for the county trials. I want to be a part of the Sussex team which has a good history of developing young players. I'm enjoying my time in PE - we've been working hard with Bonolo at ECAS and I'm currently playing for the Gelvandale hockey side."

Despite sharing a first name with several Springboks, 18-year old rugby player Johan Knapp hails from Winchester, also south of London. He is grateful for the opportunity to train in South Africa. "South Africa are the current world champions and I wanted to see how rugby is played here. So it's a good chance to test my capabilities before I get back to England for my divisional trials. I'll be playing for Police in the local PE rugby league. So I'd like to Gap Sports and Umzingisi for organising our stay in South Africa and ECAS for all the  assistance that they are giving us", stated Johan. Hopefully Johan will with more clarity on his best position as he has played at scrumhalf and both centre positions in the past.

A desire to have a guaranteed starting berth at a semi-professional rugby club is what motivated Dave Gairn to come to  South Africa. The 21-year old openside flanker is also playing for Police while he is on the books of South Port Rugby Club, which is based in Liverpool. "I play at a competitive rugby side and I'm aiming to get into the starting line up. So my time in South Africa is definitely part of a larger plan to possibly play rugby professionally. I'm also getting used to playing under different rules as the rugby laws are applied differently in South Africa and England."  In between his rugby training, Dave has also found time to go bungi jumping while in South Africa!