ALI MPHAKI
Former South African middleweight champion Khotso Motau has launched Team Up and Play – a campaign aimed at encouraging young people to engage in sport on Saturdays.
“Sport can be a key to greater things in life,” Motau said at the launch.
There was a noticeable smile of satisfaction on Motau’s face when more than 200 pupils from four lower primary schools in Dube converged at the local boxing club for the launch of the campaign. There they were introduced to sporting codes like karate, volleyball, soccer, basketball, table tennis as well as chess and Scrabble.
Motau, 39, whose boxing career was cut short due to injury four years ago, said he wanted to make young people aware of the virtues of sport, describing how, for him, being a sportsman had given him the opportunity to “be somebody in life”.
“Not only does sport inculcate a sense of discipline in an individual, it also helps you to look at life differently. Being a boxer, I was able to see the world, and this has really helped me in my outlook on life. This is the message I want to send to these young ones so that they know they can also achieve greatness in sport,” he said.
Motau, who twice represented South Africa at the Olympics, said he hoped to spread his campaign by visiting various parts of Soweto where he would preach the benefits of being a sportsman.
“It is like I am ploughing back into the community because some people may have an interest in a particular sport but do not know where to go and who to ask.
“I aim to create that awareness and at the same time give those who want to engage in sport an opportunity to do so,” said Motau.
It was a day to be remembered for the dozens of young people in attendance, who were each given a Team Up and Play T-shirt.
The initiative was sponsored by Canon Business Centre.