What started as one man’s desire to do more for grassroots rugby, has evolved into a programme that has created life changing opportunities for youth talent in the most unlikely of settings.
This is the story of Murray Ingram and the Connect Academy, the latest from RYOBI’s #WontQuitCrew platform that shines a spotlight on unique South African sporting stories.
Ryobi telling stories of resilience with Connect Academy
Since 2020 RYOBI Africa has been telling Won’t Quit stories to match the Won’t Quit nature of their power tools.
This began with the story of Kirsten Landman successfully becoming the first African woman enduro rider to finish – and ultimately podium at – the Dakar Rally.
Next up was the Makazole Mapimpi story, chronicling the Springbok rugby player’s journey from obscurity in the Eastern Cape to worldwide fame – with the multi-award winning documentary Map1mp1.
In 2022 the brand formally created the RYOBI #WontQuitCrew whereby Akona Ndungane, Kevin Lerena and Amanda Dlamini provided mentorship to three up and coming sports stars.
Last year the platform spread the focus even wider, telling the stories of six different South African sports stars all conquering adversity in pursuit of unique “Won’t Quit” goals.
This year the goal is to delve deeper into grassroots development. The Connect Academy is the ideal story that will be told – via the powerhouse that is social media.
Building a better tomorrow with Ryobi and the won’t quit crew
Richard Stevens (Stevens & Co – RYOBI Africa) says that RYOBI is a brand that is very much about building a better tomorrow;
“Whether it’s small, personal home improvements or empowering greater efforts through independent contractors using our products to start a business and generate an income; with a ‘Won’t Quit’ attitude, anything is possible. It is this that drew us into telling unique sports stories and showcasing dynamic South African sports figures with the #WontQuitCrew.
“Rugby in particular has been an incredible a nation builder in the last decade and being able to work with Connect Academy on this series, we can showcase a deeper side of the game, and truly define the importance of having a Won’t Quit mentality in all that we do.”
Set in the rugby heartland of the Western Cape, the episodes touch on the difficult beginnings of bringing rugby to the kids of Khayelitsha, and ultimately elevating them to truly embrace and make progress within
the game.
Creating chances
From there Murray Ingram (Connect Academy founder) and his team worked tirelessly to create suitable opportunities for the kids, which included securing them bursaries to the bigger rugby schools. Schools that traditionally have been the breeding ground for talent to make the transition from the age group to the professional ranks.
This is of course no mean feat, and throughout this process the Connect Academy was able to get key figures to buy into their vision.
As the young players grew, so did the Academy, with the episodes
progressing from the school’s levels all the way into the professional world where some of Murray’s first recruits now run out with hopes of one day staying the course to wear the Green and Gold.
The Won’t quit crew
Ingram says that quitting was never an option;
“Looking back on the 10 years of Connect via telling this story, it really has allowed us to take stock of what has happened. I knew creating any sort of meaningful impact was going to be tough, but my team and I were able to make some good progress in those early days and managed to really attract the right protagonists to make this something to commit to. We have obviously had some pretty big lows to go withthe highs, but the setbacks always gave us greater perspective on how to best move forward.
“Quitting at any stage was never an option, and seeing how far our youngsters have come and seeing where the programme itself is now, has really made all the tough times worth enduring.”
Though a lofty dream, the trajectories for this have been set by Connect over the years.
This series shines a light on what is possible in South Africa when committed individuals work together to create meaningful outcomes for others.
Ben Karpinski (Series producer – Retroviral) says that one thing that South Africa isn’t short on is rugby talent.
“The challenge of course comes with creating opportunities and that is what made us want to showcase the Connect story. As a rugby nation, we all enjoyed watching Chasing the Sun 2 and reliving the magical moments of becoming back to back World Champs. But that is of course the very top end of the SA rugby story. What Murray and his team are focused on, and the impact their growing network is having in developing future generations, is something equally as thrilling.”
