Our Story
We're fearless!
The courageous club with a big heart
Badgers was officially launched in 2019 with a key focus on developing junior rugby in Joburg's northern suburbs.
We started out at a school registered with the Gauteng Central School League. While the school was not able to continue to accommodate club rugby, a pressing need remained for a rugby club for children in Bryanston and the surrounding areas.
We persevered, and with the help of Golden Lions Youth Rugby, Badgers Rugby was born. St Stithians College is our home. The school has excellent facilities and is centrally located, providing easy access for players from neighbouring suburbs.
In this short time we have already racked up significant successes, including seeing two of our players being selected for the Golden Lions Rugby Union Youth IPT team and the introduction of a junior girls' team.
Our membership also tripled in size in just one year, and we are proud to have a number of development players join the club.
Today we focus firmly on building knowledge of and a love for rugby in a safe, fun and welcoming environment for children of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.
Our coaches
As a non-profit organisation, every person who assists the club and our players does so on a volunteer basis.
Badgers is a member of the Golden Lions Youth Rugby, and all our volunteers are Boksmart certified and have a minimum of a level 1 IRB coaching certification. Our ultimate aim is to have all our coaches attain level 2 IRB coaching certification.
Aside from developing our young players' game skills, we also offer opportunities for kids to learn coaching techniques and to qualify as referees.
Our players
Our kids are a lively bunch who immerse themselves in formal rugby training along with the associated lessons of sportsmanship, team work, dedication and determination.
They get involved in many aspects of the club beyond just playing the game - even our name comes from one of our players!
We love nurturing hot young talent, and sponsor development players where we can.
We're always looking for sponsorship support, so if you'd like to get involved and assist our development players, please visit our sponsorship page.
Our values
The fearless, ferocious, super courageous African honey badger is also known as a ratel in South Africa - the perfect expression for our core values:
R - Respect
A - Ability
T - Teamwork
E - Effort
L - Leadership