Key to the success of the Cheetahs over the years has been their recruitment policy, going into the future the Cheetahs will look at mixing youth and experience in their recruitment.
The likes of Johan Goosen, Willie le Roux, Trevor Nyakane, Henco Venter, Makazole Mapimpi, Ox Nche, Sergeal Petersen and many more got their development in the Free State. The recruitment has helped the franchise to be financially stable and be competitive on the field.
The acquisition of players from the Varsity Cup and non traditional rugby schools has been fruitful and the Institute of Excellence will add to that.
"In conjunction with the Varsity Cup, we have been able to get in players, Shimlas and CUT have contributed greatly. We were dependent on Grey College, but the Grey boys get offers from other unions which we can not compete with financially. There is a lot of raw talent in Bloemfontein schools and we want to tap into that.
The Institute of Excellence will allow us to broaden our pool of talent, as we hope for 50 players to apply to come and play for the Cheetahs and study through CTU which offers good educational courses," said MJ Smith Manager of the Institute of Excellence.
The Cheetahs are a stepping stone for many players, overlooked and fringe players take their trade to Bloemfontein for opportunities and after doing well, they leave. That in turn cripples the union on the field.
"That is a problem, players leaving. We want them to get a sense of belonging here, we have had Oupa Mohoje for years and we want to keep our best players. Bloemfontein is a nice city to raise a family, good school and has an enabling environment. Players come here and get opportunities, they get to play at a high level.
After 18 months or so of performing, players value increases between 30%-50% and we can not stretch our budget. We can not compete in salaries with the Sharks, Stormers, Lions and Bulls, they have a bigger budget. We have our sponsor Toyota, they have helped us greatly and has been our solid rock for many years but they can only go to a certain point. On the field we are equal but off the field its hard to compete," said Smith.
Recently we have seen the return of overseas based players comeback to the Cheetahs, last year it was Ruan Pienaar and the Cheetahs announced Frans Steyn will be joining in July. This is a trend the Cheetahs will look to continue.
"These are guys from the area, Bloemfontein. They went on to have great careers and they return here in the later stages of their careers. The deals must make sense for us and them. I can think of a few guys who are currently overseas who would also love to return. When the players comeback, they come to settle and raise their families," said Smith.
The Cheetahs scouting base, is scattered, and will look at navigating disadvantaged areas for talent and push transformation in that process. The Toyota Institute of Excellence will be of great assistance in this regard.
"There is so much talent out there, not only at the big schools. We have scouts all over the place. We want to give opportunities to disadvantaged boys. Transformation is going to be central in our recruitment, we have boys who are raising their hands up and showing great potential," concluded Smith.
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