Penryn College competes for outside gym

Penryn College, Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, was one of the schools that competed in the Coca-Cola® 30 Minute Heroes Challenge, a competition introduced to schools participating in the Coca-Cola® T20 schools Cricket challenge and aimed at getting learners to participate in physical activity. 

The concept encourages as many learners as possible to complete a five drill circuit within a 30 minute period. The scores will only be made public once all schools have completed their challenge.  The school that completes the most circuits in the allotted time frame stands a chance to win a prize of an outdoor gym to the value of two hundred thousand rand, which will be installed at the winning school.

Pupils from Grade 9 to 11 participated in the event. “Our approach on the day was 60% fun and 40% competitive with our top sportsmen going first,” said Graeme Stewart, Teacher and head of Rugby.  “The Coca-Cola® team was fantastic and really energized the kids and got them enthusiastic, especially the ones that do not normally participate in sport.”

“During assembly the next day we showed the video we took and the kids loved it.  There was a lot of laughter!  The drills were short and sweet but high impact and the trick was to get them completed as quickly as possible,” said Stewart.

“It was interesting to note that we do the same drills at cricket practise,” said Cricket coach, Eric Gimaldi, who also coaches the SA Indoor Cricket team.

Penryn College has been knocked out of the Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge.  “We are in a building process at the moment as all our top players left the school last season.  This competition is excellent and gives the kids the opportunity to play against other schools that are very competitive.  The games are short and we are finding that the entire school is interested in following our progress so we will be back next season.”

The Coca-Cola® T20 Schools Challenge is about making heroes, explains Fetsi Mbele, Coca-Cola South Africa Marketing Assets Manager. “This grass roots tournament is where heroes are unearthed and then progress through to the Coca-Cola® Khaya Majola Cricket Week, an annual tournament, sponsored by Coca-Cola South Africa for over 30 years. It has to date produced over 200 Proteas players.”

The five drills in the Coca-Cola® 30 Minute Heroes Challenge include:

1.    Shuttle runs between 6 beacons, moving a cricket ball from one   beacon to the next.

2.    Target Throwing at a set of wickets.

3.    Skipping with a skipping rope.

4.    Catching balls off a rebound board.

5.    Weaving in and out of 10 slalom poles.

For full competition terms and conditions please visit http://www.cocacola.co.za/".