Venter to leave Dubai Exiles

Matt Jones - Editor 23:07 06/08/2016
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Homeward bound: Jan Venter (2nd l) is leaving Exiles after a season of success.

    The hugely likeable 53-year-old is not hard to spot at Exiles games. When he was head coach during some of the club’s darkest days from 2012-15 he was usually seen nervously and ferociously pacing up and down the sidelines.

    He remained on those sidelines last season, although he was more static and a smile permanently adorned his face as success returned to the club and the stress of coaching was shifted to compatriot Jacques Benade’s shoulders.

    Even when he handed the reins to Benade a year ago, it was only a sideward step as he took up the position of commercial director. Prior to that he also coached the under-16s and 18s to notable success.

    With the UAE being such a transient place, you get used to people leaving, yet it will still be with a heavy heart that Venter departs the UAE after eight years.

    “We will miss Exiles, the club has played a huge role in my life. We were welcomed in and it was made to feel like home,” said Venter, who is heading back to the homeland with wife Theresa to run a guest lodge in De Rust, 90km from the coastal town of Mossel Bay.

    “It’s a change of lifestyle and I’m looking forward to it, but it will be very different. We’re approaching nine years here and the UAE’s been good to us.

    “Both of our boys finished school here and played for the club, which formed basis of 50 per cent of our friends. It made settling here so much easier.”

    Jan-Venter-Rugby

    After coaching at youth level, Venter stepped into the void for the senior side in 2012 when the club was at its lowest ebb. Just eight players attended his first training session.

    The previous season chairman Mike Wolff had been forced to abandon a game against Abu Dhabi Harlequins after not enough players showed up for a game.

    Slowly, Venter, along with namesake Gareth and now vice chairman Rob Riding, turned the tide and laid the foundations which Benade so impressively built upon last season, taking Exiles to West Asia Championship and UAE Premiership glory.

    “When I took over the men’s section it was in a terrible state,” recalls Johannesburg native Venter, whose sons Stephan, 26, and Janneman, 20, are remaining in the Emirates.

    “We said we were going to build, which we did. We got the ethos of the club right again, which was a major step. On the pitch it is exactly the way I would have wanted to leave it, this was my dream. We’re on the right path.”

    Wolff dreads to think where the club would be now had it not been for the intervention of Venter.

    “Jan’s contribution to the club is unsurpassed,” said Wolff.

    “He stood up to be counted by volunteering as coach when we were at our lowest point in the men’s section and helped put the right foundations in place for Jacques to pick up the baton last season.

    “If it wasn’t for him and Gareth and Rob, Exiles would definitely not be in the situation we are in now. When he first took over he had a team of eight players. I owe them all a great deal of gratitude, but especially Jan.

    “Jan is a man I respect hugely. He has been hugely involved with the club during his time here and will be sorely missed, but his sons are remaining here in Dubai and I hope they remain involved and carry on his great work.”

    Recommended