Pretoria - Encouraging and supporting local sporting teams in Pretoria will be key in ensuring that the capital city stays ahead of the pack as the home of South Africa’s best regional sports teams.
It was for this reason that the City of Tshwane and its stakeholders took the first steps to support local sporting teams through the donation of much-needed sporting equipment.
Tshwane MMC for Social Development and Community Services, Peggy de Bruin, said the municipality had seen fit to give soccer kits and goalposts to different local soccer teams in the city in order to promote and reinvigorate the love of sport in townships.
De Bruin said the City often reached out to local teams and encouraged them to contact it for resources, as they were aware that many teams were struggling.
She said the municipality was providing support to local teams across all of its seven regions, as it (the City) felt there was a need for sports development, especially in the townships, and also a need to provide alternative spaces for youngsters to keep away from crime and substance abuse.
“We need to develop sports as they help keep our young ones away from all the social ills we see, as well as giving them exposure to bigger tournaments and leagues.
“I believe these young ones are the future, so as a City we need to invest in them, their teams, and the coaches who dedicate their time.”
De Bruin said the plan was to eventually support and promote different sporting codes through the development of community centres.
“The communities are happy with this as they feel we are taking them seriously, but most importantly it’s so heart-warming to see these young boys enjoying themselves. In addition to that, I would like to see more efforts in encouraging young girls to take up sports, because I feel like we’re just not doing enough in that space.”
Bernard Mashilo, the coach and director of Whole Beach FC, said his team, which started in 2015, had been grooming young boys from Soshanguve in the under 11, 13, 15, and 17 divisions to play local games.
Mashilo said that considering it was a well-known fact that local sports teams were in dire need of equipment, having the municipality donate valuable supplies would help to motivate the young players to keep going. “These children are just roaming around in the streets and they don’t take soccer seriously, but hopefully seeing the support from all these stakeholders will keep them motivated.
“We know that with this simple gesture we will have more players, as the children who were here today are going to tell their friends of what they got and how special they felt.”
He said although many communities were interested and keen on taking part in sport, they were often discouraged by the lack of facilities.
And despite the lack of resources and facilities from when they began in 2015, Mashilo said that his passion for sport and being able to give back to his community was a dream come true that had kept him going.
“We don’t need 10 giant stadiums in Soshanguve because that would strain the municipality and deprive other communities, but perhaps artificial pitches that require minimal maintenance may be of benefit.
“For these kids, playing soccer is a dream come true, and they want to be somewhere in the sport. But without the municipality and other stakeholders to build us the right facilities, we are going nowhere.”
Pretoria News