Stroom Cares: Leopards Rugby Coach Riaan van Straten Qualifies for Elite Deadly Dozen World Championships in London

Yolandi Botes
1 hour ago
2 min read

High-performance rugby coach and veteran Riaan van Straten hybrid athlete has officially launched his international crowdfunding campaign via BackaBuddy following his qualification for the Deadly Dozen World Championships in London.

Representing the Leopards Rugby Union as a professional coach for over 22 years, this marks a monumental transition from the technical sidelines to the global athletic stage.

Competing in the highly competitive Masters Solo (40–45) division, he is one of only seven South African athletes to secure a starting slot for the world showpiece.

A Decade of Hybrid Discipline

The Deadly Dozen championship is a premier global benchmark in hybrid fitness, a sports discipline requiring an elite combination of structural strength, raw cardiovascular endurance, and psychological resilience.

The Preparation: Balancing a full-time professional coaching career with family responsibilities as a husband and father, his qualification follows a decade of targeted, high-intensity training.
The Mission: Beyond individual podium ambitions, the campaign aims to model lived leadership principles to junior athletes and demonstrate that age is not a barrier to achieving elite international athletic standards.

Sponsorship and Financial Logistics

As is common with emerging international sporting disciplines, the campaign to the United Kingdom is largely self-funded. The cumulative overheads required to compete at this elite level are substantial, covering:

International flights and visa logistics.
Accommodation and competition entry fees.
Specialized training equipment and event-day nutrition.

To mitigate these operational costs, an official campaign has been verified on the crowdfunding platform, BackaBuddy. Local businesses, corporate organizations, and sports enthusiasts are formally invited to partner with the campaign to carry South African excellence onto the global stage.

Supporters who back the project will receive exclusive access to the complete journey, featuring behind-the-scenes preparation, early-morning training insights, and live coverage from the arena floor in London.