SARU calls on Coca-Cola Youth Week coaches to implement the BokSmart Safe Six programme

May 15 • Academy Week, General News, Grant Khomo Week, School, Youth Weeks • 4240 Views • Comments Off on SARU calls on Coca-Cola Youth Week coaches to implement the BokSmart Safe Six programme

Coca-Cola Youth Week coaches have been called on to incorporate the BokSmart ‘Safe Six’ programme in their preparations for the tournaments which begin next month.

The BokSmart Safe Six programme was launched last year and identifies six targeted exercises to assist young players in preventing the most common injuries sustained in the tackle.

The exercises are well established clinical exercises that do not require any equipment, and have been brought together as the ‘Safe Six’ specifically for rugby players to assist in preventing the most common injuries suffered in the collisions.

The BokSmart Safe Six exercises are:

The ‘Six’ meter Shuttle Run – measure a distance of 6m with 1m intervals. Run to each marker and back. Repeat twice.
The ‘Six’-point Lunge – facing the front with your hands on your hips, lunge back and forth leading with the left leg to each of the six marked out points, and then repeat the pattern with the right leg.
The Butt-Smart ‘Six’ – kneel with your arms across your chest with a partner holding down your lower legs. Lean forward gradually until you cannot resist falling. Repeat six times.
The ‘Six’-on-a-side Push-up and Twist – Complete a push up and then balance on one arm while rotating upwards and stretching for the sky with your other arm. Repeat the cycle six times on each arm.
The ‘Six’-Bok Lunge – Stand upright with your hands grasped behind your head and lunge forward; then follow through with and lift the knee of your trailing leg. Repeat six times on each leg.
‘Six’ Dynamic Reaches – Bend forward with your arms stretched in front of you and one leg in the air behind you, such that your body is in a T-shape. Remain in the position for a few seconds. Repeat three times on each leg.

“Other than teaching, coaching, and practicing correct, effective and safe tackle techniques, injuries in the tackle are also preventable to some degree with the right physical preparation, such as with the ‘Safe Six’, said Jurie Roux, CEO of the South African Rugby Union (SARU).

“The South African Rugby Union is serious about injury prevention, which is why we have the BokSmart programme, duly sponsored by SuperSport, and its various initiatives.

“The BokSmart Safe Six programme is one of these initiatives to assist in injury prevention and I’d encourage all school, club and Coca-Cola Youth Week coaches to incorporate it into their programmes for the benefit of their players.

“These exercises are a great foundation for a young player and it’s important that players are exposed to them at a young age so that it becomes a regular feature of their warm-ups and their general physical preparation throughout their rugby careers.”

The Coca-Cola Youth Weeks begin on June 29 with the Under-13 Coca-Cola Craven Week and LSEN (Learners with Special Education Needs) Week respectively, and will be followed by the Under-16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week, the Coca-Cola Academy Week and the Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week.