Eugene "Loffie" Eloff became a mentor and lifelong friend to Aswin Willemse when he joined the Lions rugby team at age 21. Loffie was an excellent motivator who cared deeply about his players and had strong people skills, which helped him successfully develop many players from a junior to senior level. In addition to influencing Willemse's career, Loffie coached many players who went on to become Springboks, including Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie. Though not widely known, Loffie was also a talented musician who enjoyed singing Kenny Rogers songs.
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ASWIN WILLEMSE
1. ASWINWILLEMSE
WhenI joinedthe Lionsasa 21-year oldEugene “Loffie”Eloff became amentoranda lifelongfriend.
Loffie wasnotonlyan excellentmotivator,buthe wasalwayscaring,honourable andtrustworthy.I
alwaysadmiredhispeopleskillsandthe wayhe wentaboutmanaginghisplayers.
He isa dynamiccharacterwitha great love forlife thatrubbedoff onhisplayers.He had a special
relationshipwiththe playersandthere wasalwaysmutual respectbetweenthe playersandthe
coach. He startedwithmanyplayersat a juniorlevel anddevelopedthemtoplaysuccessfullyat
seniorlevel.
Besidesplayingahuge role inthe developmentof myrugbycareer,Loffie hada handinthe careers
of manyplayerswhoultimatelywentontobecome Springboks.PlayerslikeBryanHabana,Jaque
Fourie,André Pretorius,Lawrence Sephaka,Gcobani Bobo,ConradJantjies,WickusvanHeerden,Joe
van Niekerk,JorrieMullerandmanymore.
One interestingaspectthatmanypeople probablydon’tknow aboutLoffie,isthathe isan avid
musician.Ihave fondmemoriesof himstrumminghisguitarandbeltingoutKennyRogerssongs.
It was alsoparticularlyheart-warmingforme tosee thatLoffie wentonto coach at the Boland
Cavaliers,aunionwhere Istartedoff myrugby career.
Throughoutall the yearsthat I have knownLoffie the one qualitythatalwaysstoodoutforme was
hisunwaveringhumility.
Notonlydidhe make a prodigiouscontributiontomydevelopmentasa humanbeing,buthe also
made a massive impressiononthe livesof manyotherrugbyplayersandeveryonehe came into
contact with.
I am positive thathe will continuetomake anevengreaterimpactinhisfuture endeavours.