On Wednesday 28 October, Pierre de Bruyn, Head of the Assupol TuksCricket programme, announced his resignation from the University of Pretoria’s Cricket Club. He has accepted a position as second team Head Coach and elite skills coach for Leicestershire County Cricket Club in the UK, and takes up employment there in February 2016.

De Bruyn joined TuksSport as Head of Programme and Head Coach of the Assupol TuksCricket Club in February 2010. During his tenure, the Club achieved the following:

• won the NCU Premier League and NCU Knock Out Competition for five seasons
• won the NCU T20 Competition and the Momentum National Club Championships for three seasons
• won the USSA Cricket Tournament three times
• won the inaugural Varsity Cricket week in 2015
• was crowned world champions at the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals in 2014 (London, UK) and in 2015 (Dehradun, India)
• was awarded the NCU Club of Excellence award five times
• was awarded the TuksSport Club of the Year award four times
• was awarded the TuksSport Team of the Year award twice
• was awarded the Team of the Year award at the Gauteng Sports Awards twice

Under De Bruyn’s leadership, many TuksCricket players were able to chase their dreams and take their cricket careers to the next level. The following cricketers played representative cricket during De Bruyn’s time at Tuks:

• AB de Villiers, FAF du Plessis, Morne Morkel and Albie Morkel, who played for the Proteas;
• Sune Luus and Mignon du Preez, who played for the Protea women’s team;
• Theunis de Bruyn, who played for the South African A team;
• nine national u19 players;
• 15 franchise players;
• 27 men’s senior provincial players;
• 10 women’s senior provincial players; and
• 15 USSA players.

The hard work and dedication De Bruyn put in at Assupol TuksCricket earned him the TuksSport Coach of the Year award in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In October 2015, he was also named Coach of the Year at the Gauteng Sports Awards.

Off the field, De Bruyn continued to grow the Assupol TuksCricket business by securing several sponsorship deals for the Club and running many fund-raising projects to maintain a healthy financial position. This enabled him to employ more staff members in order to manage a high-performance, professional organisation where players are able to take their cricket careers to the next level while pursuing academic careers.

De Bruyn also facilitated and secured the project for building new headquarters for TuksCricket, which will commence in January 2016. This will allow Assupol TuksCricket to grow the business even more and enhance their existing cricket offering.

De Bruyn’s resignation is a great loss for Assupol TuksCricket, TuksSport and sport in South Africa. He made a huge difference in the lives of everyone with whom he has worked, both on and off the field.

Speaking about his decision, De Bruyn said, ‘I want to thank the University of Pretoria for the incredible support they have given me over the last six years. All these achievements would not have been possible without that support. It was a privilege to be part of this world-class organisation and my heart will always be with Tuks. As a coach, my main goals were to change lives and make dreams come true. I feel that I have succeeded in doing that.’

Assupol TuksCricket would like to congratulate De Bruyn on his new appointment and wish him and his family all the best in this new chapter of their lives.