New era as Players' Fund aligns more closely with SA Rugby, gets first CEO

The Chris Burger Petro Jackson Players' Fund has kicked off a new era with the appointment of Mark Kritzinger as its first full-time Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The Players' Fund, which helps players who suffered catastrophic life-changing injuries in rugby, also stepped up its relationship with SA Rugby by moving into SARU House in Cape Town.

The fund has been at the forefront of helping rugby players whose lives have been changed due to injuries since it was established in 1980, with more than 600 players benefitting from its assistance in the last 42 years.

Kritzinger officially started his new role on Friday (1 July).

"Having been involved with the fund in some way for almost 20 years, I am very excited to step into this new role and help direct a change in vision and strategy for the Players’ Fund to move it into a new era," he said in a statement released by SA Rugby.

"I will be focusing on the strategic and commercial aspects, whilst our GM for many years, Gail Baerecke, will focus on our core business which is partnering our brave former players through life-changing rugby injuries.

"We are also very pleased to have taken up offices within the SA Rugby HQ, and look forward to collaborating more closely with the team."

SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux added: "As official charity of the Springboks, we’ve come a long way with the Players' Fund and it is great to have them move into our offices as we look to closer collaboration and assisting wherever we can.

"Since the pandemic hit in 2020, as a sport we had to find new ways of keeping afloat financially and all of us had to tighten our belts, but we also realised that by doing something small, such as opening up office space, we can still contribute to the greater cause.

"We are