Kraatz Engineering (Kraatz), a subsidiary of the Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group, that specialises in engineering services in the marine and offshore, mining, fabrication, heavy machine equipment, solar and welding sectors, handed over a scrum machine to the value of N$25 000 to the management and team of the Western Suburbs Rugby club on 13 March 2023.
Rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in Africa with Namibia being the current African champions and the country with the most Africa Gold Cup wins (nine in total). This is by no means a small feat with many Namibian players hailing from local clubs such as Western Suburbs, a club situated in the heart of the Khomasdal community of Windhoek.
The scrum machine, aptly named “Kraatzie” was custom-designed by the Kraatz team to avoid injury by broadening the base plates and other modifications and was fabricated using steel weighing approximately 230kg and has an overall length of 3.07m and width of 1.515m. The whole Kraatz team supported this initiative. It was not only a fun challenge but also a feel-good one as it is a project that gives back to the community. Said Jacques de Langen, Project Manager of Kraatz: “Rugby is part of our community and it is a sports activity even our employees engage in in their free time. Being able to deliver this quality scrum machine is not just a feather in our cap, but a testimony to the quality fabrication Kraatz commits to in our promise to our clients. It speaks to our Group Purpose of “Creating a future, enhancing life” and how the little we did here can go a long way for the club and the players.”
“On behalf of Western Suburbs Rugby Club, I want to firstly say thank you to O&L and Kraatz for this sponsorship and the team who started working on this project during their holidays when everything was closed. That shows your commitment not only to Kraatz and O&L, but to the community. This scrum machine is not just a scrum machine, it is a work of art. The previous machine carried us for almost 20 years, but techniques has changed, and so must we. This new machine will help us with that. This sponsorship means a lot to the club, and we are grateful and happy to receive ‘Kraatzie’ as our new scrumming partner,” said Keith Allies, President, Western Suburbs Rugby Club.
