Absa donates running shoes to township running club ahead of Absa Cape Town 12K CITYRUN

 

Ahead of the Absa sponsored RUN YOUR CITY Series, the Proudly Pan-African bank, Absa, partnered with the Langa Running Club as part of their role in society strategy to create a meaningful impact and develop communities it operates in. The purpose-led bank hosted a brief handover of much needed running apparel to athletes from the running club in the township of KwaLanga, outside of Cape Town.

Absa Managing Executive, Relationship Banking for Western Cape and Eastern Cape, John Tshabalala, says the bank wants to play a leading role in the upliftment of its customers and communities across the country through key partnerships and initiatives that unearth, foster and profile Africa's greatest talent.

"Absa prides itself in making possibilities come to life and as part of the Absa Cape Town 12K CITYRUN, we wanted to empower runners with assets they need to achieve their performance goals. The Langa Running club has 380 members and our ambition is to see every member of this club participate in the next Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series and hopefully represent the country in this sport in the future," says John

Langa Running Club Chairman, Aubrey Isaacs, is elated by the visit from the bank and mentioned that it augurs well for the development of running in the township.

"Many of our club members are juniors who still have a long way to go in the sport of running. This gesture by Absa will inspire not only them but their peers to take the sport seriously and use it to better their lives," he said.

"We would also like to thank Absa for donating running shoes to our four elite lady athletes who will be taking part in this weekend's Absa Cape Town 12K CITYRUN, the impact that such a donation has on a township club goes a long way in boosting their confidence and hopefully they will deliver some stellar results this weekend," he added.

The Absa Cape Town 12K CITYRUN will take place this coming Sunday 21 November from the Woodbridge Bus station until the Cape Town CBD. For more Information go to https://www.thecapetown12.com.

 

About Absa 

Absa Group is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and is one of Africa’s largest diversified financial services groups. 

 

Absa Group offers an integrated set of products and services across personal and business banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management and insurance.

Absa operates in 14 countries. The Group owns majority stakes in banks in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania (Absa Bank Tanzania and National Bank of Commerce), Uganda and Zambia and has insurance operations in Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia. Absa also has representative offices in Namibia and Nigeria, and securities entities in the United Kingdom and the United States.

 

For further information about Absa Group Limited, please visit www.absa.africa

Absa hands over much needed shoes

Elite runner Paige Mackenzie

In attendance at the Absa handover - Steven Mokoka encouraging the Langa running club

James Moloi thanks Absa for its contribution to assisting athletes

John Tshabalala announces donation to the Langa running club

Yandiswa Shange receiving her running shoes

Exclusive Powerade Performance Academy host school coaches in Western Cape

Exclusive Powerade Performance Academy host school coaches in Western Cape

Dynamic- driven seminar held to empower local coaches

Powerade, this past weekend hosted one of the legs of Powerade Performance Academies taking place across major cities in the country. The Academy, hosted at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa in Newlands on the 16^th of September 2018, saw performance experts running an interactive one-day seminar. Among these experts was David Becker, Proteas Cricket Team Mental consultant who spoke about the power of the mind. The coaches were also addressed by Cape Town City Football Club Coach and former Bafana Bafana Striker Benni McCarthy who gave insight on youth development, while Paul Delport and Suzanne Ferreira spoke about identifying talent and creating Olympians respectively.

For the 2018 campaign, Powerade has drawn attention to coaches by Celebrating Everyday Coaches. This campaign will see the everyday ‘ordinary’ coaches who do extraordinary things by refining young talent that goes on to do exploits on world stages. This is because coaches contribute greatly to the success of their teams/athletes and act as mentors and influencers for many sportsmen and women.

Powerade continues to find ways to innovate and support born sportsmen’s progression of active goals and has maintained its commitment to young South African sportsmen and sportswomen by providing them with the necessary platforms to achieve their ultimate sporting goals.  In line with this commitment, Powerade has aimed much of its focus on high school coaches in recognition of their role as primary influencers of the next generation of South Africa’s sporting heroes.

Puso Makume, Powerade Sponsorship Manager says, “Powerade aims to drive a coaching evolution in South Africa, ensuring that born sportsmen and sportswomen are introduced to the science of correct training and benefits of proper hydration. We would like help keep sports enthusiasts Always Forward and with this academy we aim to create a path to an effective evolution for school sports.”

The coaches in attendance received Powerade Coaching kits that will help them continue to assist them in their everyday coaching tasks. To connect the coaches across the country, Powerade has also introduced a Powerade Facebook Community called the Coaches Corner where coaches can interact and share their daily challenges and celebrations with their peers.

The last leg of Powerade Performance Academies will take place in Johannesburg (November).

For more information, visit Powerade Facebook page (@PoweradeZA) and #AlwaysForward. 

THE BIGGEST TOUR OF THE SUMMER WRAPS UP IN CAPE TOWN

KFC Mini-Cricket kids looking to secure series win in final KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas Tour match at PPC Newlands

 The KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas Tour reaches its climax on Thursday, 18 February, at PPC Newlands, with the KFC Mini-Cricket kids taking on the Proteas in the final game of the season.

The KFC Mini-Cricket kids, who will be represented by St Andrews Primary School from Saldanha Bay, will be looking to claim a historical series victory over one of the best limited overs sides in the world.  The Proteas, who will be represented by ICC T20 World Cup squad memebers Kagiso Rabada, David Miller, Imran Tahir and Rilee Rossouw, will be looking to level-up the series after their Duckworth-Lewis victory over the kids in Gauteng. 

Former Protea and South Africa’s most successful captain, Graeme Smith, will be taking over from compatriots Mfuneko Ngam and Neil McKenzie as coach of the KFC Mini-Cricket team. After his  first training session held today with the team at St Andrews Primary, Graeme spoke of his pride in the kids, “Win or lose, the KFC Mini-Cricket kids should be immensely proud of their performances this season.  To go up against the Proteas and be in a position where, going into the last game, they cannot lose the series, is an amazing achievement.  As a team we cannot wait for the game and I have full confidence that it will be the KFC Mini-Cricket kids holding the trophy aloft come Thursday afternoon at Newlands.”

Mike Middleton, Chief Marketing Officer for KFC South Africa, added his praise of the kids’ performances, “The KFC Mini-Cricket kids have done KFC proud!  No matter the result of the final match, I would like to congratulate all the KFC Mini-Cricket teams who have taken part in the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas Tour this season.  We at KFC are proud of the fact that we are able to get kids active and closer to their heroes. I wish both the KFC Mini-Cricket kids and the Proteas luck for the final match in what has no doubt been our most successful KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas Tour season to date.”

The Proteas will be looking for a win in the final game as a momentum builder ahead of a key period in their season which includes KFC T20 Internationals against England and Australia before heading to India for the ICC World T20. 

Star Proteas bowler Kagiso Rabada commented, “The KFC Mini-Cricket kids have been tough opponents this season.  We definitely won’t be underestimating them on Thursday.  The Proteas have had a brilliant time taking part in the KFC Kids vs Proteas Tour and we can’t wait to follow the progress of the KFC Mini-Cricket kids. ”

The Proteas will play St Andrews Primary School on 18 February 2016, make sure you follow the action on Facebook and Twitter using #KFCMiniCricket.

{ENDS}

Media Contact

Shawn Belluigi

Tel: 083 675 4338

Email: shawn@intunecom.co.za

About the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids v Proteas Tour

For the third year KFC will run a national competition where KFC Mini-Cricket kids will stand the chance to play against the Proteas in the KFC Mini-Cricket Kids vs Proteas Tour.

Kids can enter online (www.kfcminicricket.co.za) or via USSD (*120*7535#).

The winners will be rewarded with a prize handover, a training session and a game against the Proteas, all assisted by one of the three KFC Mini_Cricket coaches, Graeme Smith, Neil McKenzie and Mfuneko Ngam.

The runners-up will be given the opportunity to participate as ball boys and girls at a televised Ram Slam T20 Challenge match in their area.

Three third place winners will be drawn, each of whom will be awarded with 25 KFC Mini-Cricket sets for their school.

About KFC Mini-Cricket

KFC Mini-Cricket provides a platform for kids in South Africa to have fun and get active.

KFC Mini-Cricket is the largest grassroots development sports programme in South Africa and is also an essential building block for learning cricketing basics and entrenching a love for the game. 

There are currently over 110 000 kids from over 4 900 schools active in the KFC Mini-Cricket programme who are coached by over 8000 volunteers.

KFC has sponsored KFC Mini-Cricket since 2010 and in the 2012/13 cricket season KFC became the title sponsor of the KFC T20 Internationals and an associate sponsor of the Ram Slam T20 Challenge.

KFC has recently renewed its Mini-Cricket sponsorship for a further 10 years, taking the partnership through to 2025.

Log on to www.kfcminicricket.co.za or contact CSA at (011) 880 2810 for more info on KFC Mini-Cricket.

Cape Town first timers in the Danone Nations Cup hope to win the Provincials.

The Danone Nations Cup Western Cape Provincial Finals take place at the D’Almeida Stadium in Mossel Bay on Saturday 6^th June, games kick-off at 10am.  Competing will be the 6 regional winners including first timers, Kleinberg Primary school from Ocean View, Cape Town.

At the helm of Kleinberg will be two old boys, who are also teachers at the school, Zafrulas Oppelt (team manager) and Nolan Kopman (coach).

“We have never played in a tournament under the SASFA umbrella before,” said Oppelt. “We have always played in the schools local league soccer tournament, and this year we decided to enter as I believe competitions like the Danone Nations Cup will definitely improve the players as they will be exposed to competition that they were not getting in our local league.”

Oppelt and Kopman are passionate sports supporters. “We are both mad about sports in general and this is our way of giving back to the community, we do everything we possibly can to help the school in any shape or form,” he said.

Oppelt believes the players will get recognition from the tournament and they will take away something from it, win or lose. “We are lucky to have reached this stage. I certainly didn’t expect it but I am happy that the team managed to qualify for the provincials,” he said.

“We only played two games in our region of Cape Town and they were both relatively easy, but the real competition is going to be at the provincials,” he said. “We are coming in as underdogs.  We know nothing about the schools that have qualified and have no experience of competing at this level. It’s going to be a challenge for the team but we have always taught the kids to strive for success no matter what the situation is, so we are very optimistic.”

They have prepared the team the best way they know how, Oppelt said, but they are not putting any pressure on the team. “We just want them to gain the experience to come back next year and cause waves.”

What helps, says Oppelt, is that a number of the players also play for local soccer teams, mostly for Oceanview FC, a reputable soccer club in Cape Town.

As for strategies ahead of the provincial finals, Oppelt said they are to going to take it one game at a time, and make sure they score a lot of goals.

“It’s important to start with a bang, and make the opponents aware that we are not here to play around. The boys have been training hard, they work well as a team and have been playing together as team since last year, so they are used to each other.”

The teams participating in the provincial finals are:

Naphakade Primary School-West Coast District

Mzoxolo Primary School- Eden District

Restvale Primary School –Central Karoo District

Masakhane Primary School-Overberg District

Kleinberg Primary School-Cape Town District

Rietenbosch Primary School - Winelands

Danone Nations Cup Partners

Barclays Premier League Trophy Inspires Football Coaches At the Khayelitsha Football For Hope Centre

The coveted Barclays Premier League Trophy was the centre of attention in Khayelitsha’s Football for Hope Centre near Cape Town today as Barclays reaffirmed its financial commitment to the Grassroot Soccer (GRS) South Africa Coach Development Programme run in conjunction with Barclays Spaces for Sports.

The programme, delivered for Barclays by Grassroots Soccer, goes far beyond the fields of football. Over 190 GRS coaches between the ages of 18 and 30, who worked with over 39 000 youth in their communities in 2013, have been empowered through training focused on employability and financial literacy skills over the past year. The aim of the project is to encourage all people to live healthy and productive lives through the medium of sport and to embody good citizenship in their respective communities.

The Grassroot Soccer development courses are enhanced by additional hands-on experience as well as offering mentoring and voluntary apprenticeships. Khayelitsha has been one of the successful areas of the programme, with 35 of the 190 coach intake over the past year, hailing from this community in the Western Cape.

Bafana Bafana legend that played for Bolton Wanderers and Charlton Athletic during his playing career in the Barclays Premier League, Mark Fish, accompanied the Barclays Premier League trophy to inspire those present.  Said Fish:  “Good citizenship should be a part of everyday life and it is key that people understand the importance of life skills such as entrepreneurship and financial literacy. Even footballers can’t play football forever, and it is crucial to have some sort of business acumen to fall back on when one’s playing days are over. Barclays needs to be commended for taking this empowering step towards creating a brighter future and for striving to make a difference in communities through this programme.”

Chris Barkley, Grassroot Soccer Director of Business Development & Strategy said: “From a Grassroot Soccer perspective, we are very grateful for the support Barclays provides this project both here in South Africa as well as in Zambia and Zimbabwe. We have no doubt that the fruits of this success story will see many of these people put through the programme, going on to take advantage of high-level employment or educational opportunities in the near future.”

The programme, funded by Barclays through the Barclays Spaces for Sports programme, has made a positive and meaningful impact over the past 12 months, according to Gideon Serfontein, Head of Citizenship at Barclays Africa. “Our community investment will continue to focus on helping to create sustainable local communities in which people are empowered to shape a positive future for themselves and their families, and are able to make a meaningful contribution to their local economy. In doing so, we partner with public benefit organisations such as Grassroot Soccer that achieve development goals through viable, innovative and sustainable skills programmes, thus allowing communities to prosper.”

End.

For further queries, please contact:

Dante Mashile, CPRP

Vice President Group Media Relations

Mobile: +27 72 605 1623

E-mail: dante.mashile@absa.co.za

Notes to Editors:

Barclays Spaces for Sports:

Citizenship at Barclays is about three things: how we contribute to growth in the real economy; the way we do business; and supporting our communities through investment programmes and the direct efforts of our employees. Barclays Spaces for Sports is a community-based sports programme, which uses sport as a platform to help young people develop life skills and revitalise disadvantaged communities in a sustainable way. In partnership with the Football Foundation, Barclays has delivered 200 physical sports site used by 53,000 people in disadvantaged areas in the UK.

The programme has also invested in 15 innovative sports-for-development programmes around the world. Spaces for Sports is part of Barclays wider 5 Million Young Futures commitment to invest not only money, but employees’/colleagues’ time and expertise in community programmes that enhance the enterprise, employability and financial skills of disadvantaged young people aged 10 to 35 years, by 2015.

To find out more please visit www.barclays.com/spacesforsports

About Barclays Africa Group

Barclays Africa Group Limited (Barclays Africa or the Group), is listed on the JSE Limited and is one of Africa’s largest financial services groups. We are uniquely positioned as a fully global, fully regional and fully local bank. We combine our global product knowledge with regional expertise and our extensive and well-established local presence in Africa to serve our customers and clients even better.  The Group offers personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management as well as bancassurance.

Our Group was formed by combining Absa Group Limited and majority of Barclays Africa operations on 31 July 2013. Reflecting the enlarged group’s pan-African focus, our name changed from Absa Group Limited to Barclays Africa Group Limited on 2 August 2013.

At 31 December 2013, we had 847,8 million shares in issue and a market capitalisation of R112,1 billion. We operate in 12 countries and have 11,8 million customers, total assets of R959,6 billion; 10 780 automated teller machines, 1 314 branches and 42 400 permanent employees.

Our registered head office is in Johannesburg, South Africa and we have majority stakes in banks in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania (Barclays Bank Tanzania and National Bank of Commerce), Uganda and Zambia. We also have representative offices in Namibia and Nigeria. Our bancassurance operations are in Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia.  Barclays Bank Kenya and Barclays Bank Botswana continue to be listed on their respective stock exchanges. In addition to the entities listed in this legal structure, Barclays Bank PLC has operations in Egypt and Zimbabwe which are an integral part of our African business and continue to be run by Barclays Africa Group operationally.

Barclays Premier League and Bafana Bafana legend Mark Fish shows that he has lost none of his football skills, during an on-pitch session at the Grassroot Soccer (GRS) South Africa Coach Development Programme run in conjunction with Barclays Spaces for Sports, in Khayelitsha, near Cape Town, on Friday, 21 February 2014. Photo: Backpagepix

Barclays Premier League trophy in Khayelitsha: Barclays Premier League and Bafana Bafana legend Mark Fish (second from right, was on hand to inspire a host of coaches who have completed the first year curriculum at the Grassroot Soccer (GRS) South Africa Coach Development Programme run in conjunction with Barclays Spaces for Sports, in Khayelitsha, near Cape Town, on Friday, 21 February 2014. Pictured along with Fish are (from left) Chris Barkley (Grassroot Soccer Director of Business Development & Strategy), Tony Gubesa (Master Coach, Grassroot Soccer), Gideon Serfontein (Head of Citizenship, Barclays Africa) and Programme Director Carol Tshabalala. Photo: Backpagepix