Wits Women’s Rugby Welcomes a New Coach
-
The Wits Women’s Rugby team has strengthened its leadership with the appointment of a new coach, bringing fresh energy, experience, and ambition to the club.
Aliyah Tchogna-Njamen, Golden Lion’s player, has been recently appointed as the Head Coach of the Women’s Rugby Team at Wits University. Tchogna-Njamen has a decade of experience in women’s rugby across various levels in the country. Including representing South Africa at an international level. She has been tasked with leading, developing and growing women’s rugby at the university in her new role as Head Coach.
“It’s a huge honour and a very humbling experience. Wits has a proud sporting tradition, and to be entrusted with leading the women’s rugby programme is incredibly special. I feel excited, motivated, and ready to take on the responsibility of helping shape the next generation of players,” she said about her new position.
Tchogna-Njamen is an accomplished and experienced rugby player with a drive to share her knowledge and expertise with the players and expand the heights of the Women’s rugby team. One such experience was her time spent with the Springbok Women team as a player. In this experience she learnt numerous lessons about professionalism, preparation, resilience and discipline. These are lessons that she is intent on imparting on the players during her tenure to ensure that they are well-oiled machines on and off the field.
She mentioned various areas of focus for herself and the team to push them further in this season and beyond, including a focus on their position as athletes as well as students. “My main focus will be on building a strong team culture, improving consistency, and developing fundamental skills across the squad. I also want to emphasize player development, conditioning, and game understanding, while creating an environment where players feel safe and supported both as athletes and as students.”
With a game plan and ideas to focus on, the team is in a position to work towards various goals throughout the season and further along in the future. Tchogna-Njamen stated that it takes some time to solidify a new programme, but to start with, she aims to create a strong foundation by creating a competitive, disciplined, and unified team. She wants to recruit new elite players while retaining their current players for squad depth. In the future, she hopes to lead her team to the Varsity Cup.
These goals and aspirations are a primary driving force, and Tchogna-Njamen takes them seriously. She shared that she is excited to work closely with the players and witness their growth throughout the season. She is excited at the chance to mentor young women, some of whom used to be her teammates in the Women’s Pick n Pay league. “It excites me that, whether on the field or now in a coaching role, I can continue contributing to their journeys in a meaningful and lasting way.”
With this enthusiasm and a thorough game plan at hand, the future of the Wits Women’s Rugby Programme is in great hands.