Jan Preuyt (1923 – 27 April 2006) was the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n chairman of the South African Schools Rugby Association for 25 years. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The tou ...

rugby tournament.

Early life and education

While studying at

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

he was noticed by his mentor and coach

Danie Craven Daniël Hartman Craven (11 October 1910 – 4 January 1993) was a South African rugby union player (1931–1938), national coach, national and international rugby administrator, academic, and author. Popularly known as Danie, Doc, or Mr R ...

. Preuyt played for Griqualand and was a Junior Springbok in the early 1950s. Local clubs Cambridge and Buffaloes later had his services in their teams.

Career

He taught at the East London Technical College from 1956 and ended his teaching career as Deputy Principal of Port Rex Technical High School in 1987. He started rugby at the Port Rex in 1956 and coached the first team until he retired 31 years later. He served as chairman of Border Schools and South Africa Schools Rugby Association for 25 years. In 1974 and 1983 he was manager of the South Africa Schools Teams which toured

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

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and

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respectively. In later years he organised other codes of sport, and in 1986 he was the first president of the South Africa Schools Union (all codes).

References

1923 births 2006 deaths South African schoolteachers South African rugby union coaches South African rugby union players {{SouthAfrica-rugbyunion-bio-stub