I am sure when reading the headline of this article, the reader questions the proofreading acumen of the editor and believes that there is a spelling error and that this article is somehow about a talented cricketer similar in style and quality to the ever rising Dewald Brevis. This is unfortunately not the case. This article is about the man behind the success of the most envied school cricket programme in the country.
Rondebosch’s Coaching Prodigy
In military terms, a brevet refers to a warrant giving an officer a higher rank title as a reward for meritorious conduct but may not confer the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank. Rondebosch Boys’ High School’s English and Life Orientation teacher and 1st XI cricket coach, Jaco Zeeman, has taken over the ranks as Head of Cricket from his mentor, colleague, close friend and schoolboy cricket coaching legend, Rob Dalrymple. Such is the trust by the school’s senior management team in Jaco, that when Rob decided to step down in February 2021, they looked no further than the man who has flanked him as 1st XI cricket coach since September 2014 and placed their bets with the 29-year-old coaching prodigy.
Jaco attended Rondebosch Boys’ High, represented Western Province at various age group levels before heading off to Stellenbosch University to study sport science. Jaco enjoyed coaching stints at Somerset College, Bishops and worked in the conditioning department at Western Province rugby, before returning to his alma mater to start his teaching career in 2016.
Jaco enjoyed some time as a private cricket coach in the Gary Kirsten Cricket Academy before he started teaching: “I thoroughly enjoyed coaching privately. It taught me the necessary patience and helped me work out the best way to coach the fundamentals to the schoolboy cricketers that I work with.”
When asked about his decision to pursue a career in teaching, Jaco replied: “coaching is teaching. The subject matter is different, but the process and the enjoyment is the same. The opportunity to be involved in the learning process all year round really appealed to me.”
A Role Model for the players
Although still relatively young in his coaching career, Jaco has achieved numerous accolades as a coach. He has served Western Province Youth Cricket as a U13, U15 & U17 coach and has presented modules on fielding in Western Province’s coach education programme. Winning the provincial and regional trophy of the Cricket South Africa Schools’ T20 Competition in 2018, as well as winning the infamous Silk Schools’ Trophy in the United Kingdom (in 2018 & in 2022) with his beloved 1st XI Rondebosch team rank amongst his top memories as a coach. Jaco is still determined to learn: “I continue to wait patiently for the opportunity to do my CSA Level 3. Covid19, funding and the roll out of the Framework coaches has meant I have had to put this ambition on hold, but I will be ready should the opportunity present itself.”
When asked what he believes makes him unique and successful as a coach, Jaco replied: “I don’t think I am special or even successful. I believe too many coaches try to claim the success of the players when they do well and decide to blame them when they struggle. Personally, I just want to make a positive contribution to the player both on and off the field, build a healthy working relationship and try to be a role model to the boys for the period that they are in my care.” When asked how he approaches this, he said: “the players are smart. Authenticity is key – they will see right through you if you are not genuine. Players also appreciate honesty, even when it is not what they want to hear. Finally, I would say, if they don’t believe you care for them, they will not listen to anything you have to say.”
Rondebosch Ranked No.1 for a Decade
In 2020, Rondebosch were ranked the number 1 cricket school of the decade in South Africa. Jaco has played a pivotal role in 7 years of that period of the school’s cricket programme. Commenting on this success, Jaco said: “I am just too grateful and humbled to have been given the opportunity to work at this fantastic school. In order to build success, it takes a number of role players. The headmaster, head of sport and most significantly, Rob Dalrymple built the cricket programme into one of the best cricket schools in the country. Initially, my job was simply to throw balls at high quality players and that has evolved over time into the daunting task of running the entire programme and trying to stay ahead of many top cricket schools who are fighting their way to get to the top.”
One would not have to search far to find a Rondebosch Old boy current cricketer reference with guys like Gavin Kaplan, Junaid Dawood and Dayyaan Galiem all lighting up the domestic circuit. We asked recently matriculated Ethan-John Cunningham about his former school coach. Ethan said: “Jaco was my coach for 3 years and it was a beneficial time for my cricket. One of his greatest abilities is to find young talent and get them involved into our school system. He is a passionate coach who always gives his all and his love for the game shines through. He is hard working and always available to players who want extra work. I learnt a lot from him as a coach and it grew me as a cricketer and challenges the way we look at the game.”
Don’t fix what is not broken
When asked about his plans for Rondebosch Cricket, Jaco remained rather cagey, but added: “we don’t want to fix what is not broken. The values driven ecosystem we have created remains the most important tool in creating an environment where players can express themselves, fail, grow and improve. I have a couple of ideas around how we will adjust our coaching, training, as well as our fixture list to continue providing optimal growth and exposure for our players and to best prepare them for the next level.”
The traditional school circuit sees several the top schools play each other every year. Recently crowned North/South champion, Waterkloof’s Director of Cricket, Cobus Pienaar, spoke highly of his Rondebosch counterpart: “ I met Jaco in 2017 when I took over at Waterkloof. We got on very well from the start with mutual respect for both school’s cricket programs as well as both coaches’ expertise. He is very passionate about cricket in general which is a very good fundamental skill to have as a coach! Rondebosch’s program under his guidance, makes a massive effort to play a lot of cricket which allow the boys to develop and test their skill under pressure. He is a very understanding of his players needs and he is a hard working coach who gets the best out of his players. To sum it up. It is always a pleasure to play against Rondebosch with Jaco and Rob Dalrymple around. You know you will always have a very competitive game against them!”
Dreams of taking Coaching Career to the Next Level
Zeeman seemed to have clarity in thought when the question around how recruitment takes place came up. He said: “we see so many boys with natural talent and ability, but increasingly it is the EQ stuff that we are interested in. What is you reason for playing? What are values as a person and why do you want to be at Rondebosch? The answers to these important questions, along with the talent help us decide whether the player is the right fit for us.” Jaco enthusiastically added: “the ideal player to work with is a one that is humble, disciplined, and hardworking. The ability to be coached is also critical in the development of boys and is something I have seen in the dozen or so S.A. U19 or S.A. Schools reps I have had the honour of working with.”
He dreams of coaching at the next level, but feels he still has a job to do: “obviously I would like to coach at the next level, but feel honoured to help players in this crucial period of their development. I could also see myself heading over to the United Kingdom to coach, teach and grow as a person. That being said, I have a massive responsibility at Rondebosch and my aim is to try and keep the school amongst the leading cricket schools in the country. We have such a critical role in serving the pipeline. Traditional schoolboy cricket, in my opinion, is the lifeblood of South African cricket.”
Jaco was deservedly brevetted to the top job at Rondebosch there is no doubting that he is a determined teacher and sports coach. His passion and commitment is clear for all to see and we look forward to following his journey with great interest.
