Bloemfontein Online Co. chats with the former Springbok rugby player and kicking legend, Braam van Straaten, about his appointment as their new head coach with the “Blue Brigade” in Bloemfontein, his life outside of rugby and his passion for what he does.
Braam, who recently celebrated his 50th birthday, was born in 1971. He is married to Madie van Straaten and they have two children, Braam and Jandri.
Becoming the coach of the ‘Blue Brigade’
“It was really nice for me to get the position of head coach. I am really enjoying it!”
Braam says there was a really good foundation laid by Tiaan Liebenberg and Pieter Bergh who was the head coach before him.
“They shared information with me that was part of their three years, which is incredible. A really good culture has been established over the last couple of years and hopefully I can put my thoughts and flavour in this team and we can show people what we can do to take it to the next level.”
Braam further says that the work that has been done has given the players the opportunity to play really well and beat some of the strong teams at the Varsity Cup. “Hopefully we can continue on this same wavelength to be able to really take it to the next level. The Blue Brigade is ready for action and hopefully we will have a really great 2022!”
Braam’s coaching career started about 16 years ago after his playing days. When he left Griquas, he was involved with a lot of teams. He was doing the kicking for Australia and all their Superrugby franchises over a period of four years.
Braam says his love and passion for rugby started a long time ago. “I started playing rugby when I was five years old. And that is what I know, that is who I am. My DNA is rugby. I played every week and every weekend and it was fantastic to learn the trade from really good coaches.”
Braam says he recalls one of his coaches, Patrick de Wet, who not just installed his love for the game, but installed a reall toughness in him.
Braam went to school at Maywell Primary School in Pretoria and matriculated at Wonderboom High School.
After school Braam studied at NKP in Pretoria and got his teaching degree. He taught for two years at primary schools and then he got the opportunity to become a teacher at Affies. “I absolutely loved it. It was absolutely fantastic working with the youngsters.”
“Because I come from a teaching background, I was always involved with coaching from a very young age. I developed my coaching techniques at the International Rugby Academy over a twelve year period. I then became the director of rugby at St Charles College.”
After that Braam was involved with the Sharks for two and a half years as their defence and kicking coach. He then moved on to the Kings where he worked for a year until they got liquidated.
Braam tells us about his favourite childhood memory. “This memory will live in my mind until the day I die. We played against Boerefort Primary School and they had some really big and talented boys. We beat them twice, which was fantastic. It was a really proud moment and it was not only a big rivalry between the schools.”
Braam’s playing career started in Pretoria when he was playing Craven Week with the Blue Bulls. He then went on and played for NKP and the Northen Transvaal. After he hurt his knee badly, he didn’t get a good contract with the Blue Bulls, but in 1997 he went to SWD. After that he got the opportunity to play for the Falcons. From thereon Braam got the opportunity to become a Springbok and then a Stormer.
Braam also taught numerous young kickers throughout South Africa online.
Braam says he really looks forward to being head coach at Ixias. They have been busy for two and a half weeks already. “We have put some real good things into place already and the boys have been absolutely fantastic!”
Braam says in his free time he enjoys any kind of fishing. “It’s one of my big loves that comes from my dad’s side. He took me fishing every weekend when I was younger. I also enjoy playing some golf. I am really competitive!”
Braam also enjoys spending some time with his family.
His valuable advice to any young boy who dreams of becoming a rugby player, is that hard work beats talent, unless talent works hard.
“Getting the right information at the right time of your career, is absolutely a priority. If you can do it rather earlier that later, it would mean to much more. That would put you in a position to be able to excell a lot quicker.”
He says there is a couple of things that aren’t negotiable. “You need to be trustworthy. You need to be humble. You need to keep your truths and make sure that you do the hard work within the structures. And then go out and enjoy it!”
He also says it’s important to get something behind your name, as your rugby career can be over in a flash. “You need to have something else you can fall back onto if your rugby career doesn’t work out.”
