In what feels like a long overdue and wholly predictable union, MyPlayers and the South African Rugby Legends Association (SARLA) are happy to announce that the two organisations have become friends with benefits.
MyPlayers Rugby (Pty) Ltd is a private company that is owned by and looks after the collective commercial and labour interests of South Africa’s professional rugby players. SARLA looks after the collective interest of retired professional rugby players. Visit the SARLA website for more information on the organisation.
In May 2021, the two organisations concluded a Memorandum of Understanding for the purposes of expanding and enhancing both parties’ current service offering to their respective members.
John Smit, the acting CEO of SARLA and a board member of MyPlayers, commented on the nature and potential of this relationship:
“It makes sense for the two organisations to create a somewhat structured yet spontaneous relationship through which current and retired professional rugby players could benefit from synergies between the two organisations.
“Currently, when a player retires from professional rugby, he gives up his membership at MyPlayers and becomes a member of SARLA. Yet, MyPlayers offered him a number of services and other benefits during his playing days, and ideally, he’d like those benefits to still be looked after once he packs away his boots. Similarly, SARLA does a lot for grassroots development for the game, and its members have been through the mills in professional rugby. Imagine the mentorship opportunities this creates for the current and future crop of players. This synergistic relationship makes sense on so many levels,” said Smit.
He added: “A partnership such as this entails new projects and at times, cost sharing. In that regard, SARLA is in a position to commit itself to this exciting agreement largely due to the support the Legends are receiving from Douglas Craigie Stevens and his team at Cell C.”
MyPlayers will assist SARLA with:
• Developing a commercial programme similar to its own (products and services through which members derive collective commercial income);
• Advise on continuing the MyPlayers Player Development Programme after rugby;
• Extending its current financial services offering to players after rugby;
• Implementation of a database/data management systems and communications tool for SARLA similar to the MyPlayers smartphone app.
SARLA will assist MyPlayers with:
• Involvement in the development plan for grass-roots rugby;
• Intranet/platform development to enable current and ex-players to interact on any matters of mutual interest and benefit;
• Player benefit partner programme development (currently, MyPlayers has a number of benefit partners who offer bespoke deals to members of the players’ organisation);
• Providing a mentorship network.
Eugene Henning, CEO of MyPlayers, explained that a steering committee consisting of three representatives from both organisations will meet once per month to oversee the deliverables agreed upon by the two organisations.
“It is beneficial to all professional rugby players – current and former – for us two organisations to share relevant resources and IP. The transition from playing professional rugby to entering the "real world" is often daunting, and it doesn’t have to be that way.”
This agreement will be re-evaluated annually.