KFC Mini-Cricket returns to North West in style

 

After more than a year of being restricted from playing their favourite sport, youngsters in parts of North West finally got a chance to lace up their boots, don their red and white colours and grab a bat and ball for the KFC Mini-Cricket Activation Programme in Kanana, Klerksdorp, and Jouberton this week.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) in partnership with KFC hosted four thrilling mini-festivals at various schools featuring CSA mascot, ZAC and provincial ambassadors between 25-26 May, beginning with Inyathelo Primary in Kanana on Tuesday, before moving to Akofang Primary in Jouberton later on the day.

On Wednesday, the fun returned to Jouberton, with Itirele Primary School taking centre stage during the morning session before the final stop in Klerksdorp, where the KFC Mini-Cricket team at Educator’s Primary School rounded off the two-day spectacle.

These KFC Mini-Cricket Activation Programme form part of a 2020/21 KFC Mini-Cricket season relaunch undertaken by CSA to help provide an enjoyable but more importantly, safe environment for the kids to get active after a prolonged absence caused by the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

Ahead of the resumption, to ensure the players, coaches and teachers’ safety, KFC Mini-Cricket identified non-hotspot regions across the country where non-contact school sport can take place.

They have also procured Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and sanitisers for all participating schools, provided extra playing equipment to limit sharing between players, as well as arrange a Safety Officer to help facilitate the COVID-19 protocols for each school.

CSA’s Mass Participation Coordinator, Buhle Motshegoa is pleased with how the North West-leg of the KFC Mini-Cricket Regional Festivals went, highlighting the visible passion for the game as well as the bright talent on show in the province. A province that produced the likes of Momentum Proteas star, Lizelle Lee, Proteas all-rounder, Dwaine Pretorius and Central Gauteng Lions player, Jonty Rapulana.

“We are happy that the 2020/21 KFC Mini-Cricket season was able to get underway in the form of the Activation Programmes and that once again we get to see our mini cricketers and coaches play with smiles on their faces,” Motshegoa commented.

“As soon as we set foot in Kanana, you could sense the excitement in the air, and passion for the game of cricket from all those involved in making the two-day cricketing spectacle a resounding success, while we strictly adhered to the COVID-19 health regulations.

“Although getting kids active in a fun and enjoyable way is the main goal, we also got to witness some sensational talent on the field, between both the boys and girls. This bodes well, not only for the growth of the KFC Mini-Cricket programme but also for the South African cricket pipeline,” she added.

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.  

As of the 2019/2020 season, there are 126 642 kids from 6617 schools active in the KFC Mini-Cricket programme who are coached by 13 673 volunteer coaches. 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.

For more information, please visit https://order.kfc.co.za/minicricket/minicrickethome.

 

Image list with captions.

CSA National Academy player, Evodia Yekile working closely with Aviwe Mpavu from Inyathelo Primary School during the 2021 KFC Mini Cricket Activation at Inyathelo Primary School in Klerksdorp on the 25 May 2021 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Iva Manxiwa from Inyathelo Primary School preparing for a big swing as the kids get active during the 2021 KFC Mini Cricket Activation at Inyathelo Primary School in Klerksdorp on the 25 May 2021 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

ZAC helping Tswarelo Marekwa from Akofang Primary School with his bowling grip during the 2021 KFC Mini Cricket Activation at Akofang Primary School in Klerksdorp on the 25 May 2021 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Newly appointed Central Gauteng Lions Assistant coach, Jimmy Kgamadi engaging with the kids of Itirele Primary School during the 2021 KFC Mini Cricket Activation at Itirele Primary School in Klerksdorp on the 26 May 2021 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

In Tune with Coaching discusses SuperSport’s Schools streaming app.

 

Start your month on a thrilling and informative note as the exciting In Tune with Coaching live webinar series returns and will focus on the SuperSport Schools app and how it can benefits school’s sport.

The latest edition will take place this Thursday, 03 June 2021 between 18h00-19h00 (CAT).  Register here: https://bit.ly/3vu4TEW and be a part of the webinar for FREE.

This week’s topic will be focused on Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming services; particularly the SuperSport School’s app service which has joined the current OTT streaming offerings from Pitchvision and DigiTV SA.

The demand of school sports streaming services has steadily been on the rise and appetite has expanded over the past 12 months largely due to Covid 19 pandemic restrictions which prevent spectators from watching school’s sports live on the ground.

The In Tune with Coaching platform is eager to lace you up with insight from some of the brightest minds in SA OTT broadcasting, featuring SuperSport’s Senior Commercial Manager, Rendani Ramovha.

Host and organizer, Belluigi is thrilled to be hosting the series with the next episode exploring the exciting topic of OTT Services and their potential impact on school’s sport. 

“We have got an exciting one hour where we will tap into the mind of one of the leaders in sport broadcasting who is overseeing the growth of the SuperSport Schools app,” he said. 

“I believe OTT is the way to go in the future of school’s sport and the benefits of these services are immense, it will be interesting to hear more of the benefits of these platforms and what goes behind setting this service.”  Belluigi added. 

The series, hosted by Intune Communications and Entertainment Director, Shawn Belluigi, began during the first lockdown last year and is aimed at empowering leaders in sport through conversations with industry leaders from different codes and disciplines.

Previous talking points addressed include the importance of playing multiple sports at school, the glaring differences in our socioeconomic makeup in sport and “the science to the art of coaching”. 

The recordings of the archived webinars can be located on Intune Communications’ YouTube Page (https://bit.ly/2RPeMyz). 

 

 

 

About guest, Rendani Ramovha:

Ramovha is the Senior Commercial Manager at SuperSport. He was appointed to the position in January 2021, and prior to that led the Sports Marketing division of Multichoice Africa Holdings. He holds vast expertise and understanding of the marketing and sales sectors with experience working across the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) industry before growing his footprint in sport. He graduated from the University of Johannesburg with a Masters in Marketing specialising in Strategic Marketing and Brand Leadership, and also holds a ‘Strategic Leadership’ certificate from the GIBS Business School. He is passionate about sport and the advancement of it, having played semi-pro rugby in the Varsity Cup and in Wales for a club stint. He is a leader with vision and purpose supported by strong planning and project management skills

The In Tune with Coaching live webinar series is set to take place bi-weekly on Thursdays from 18h00-19h00. A reminder of how you can register for FREE here:https://bit.ly/3uWlr8g. 

 

Organised school sport for children and adolescents COVID 19 and beyond

 

How do you get back to school sport in a safe way? What does school sport look like after the Corona Virus? What criteria do you need to follow to run school sport in a safe way? What does the future of school sport look like? Professor's Candice Christie (University of Rhodes), policy brief lead, and Professor Rowena Naidoo (University of KZN) led a team of professors, scientists and sporting personalities from most of the universities in South Africa together with other a couple of universities from other countries in Africa and sporting research agencies came up with a brief to assist schools with the best practice guidelines to return sport to schools. “Sport has the power to change the world” – Nelson Mandela. Regular participation in exercise, sport and physical activity offers many proven benefits for children and adolescents. Beyond just the obvious physical advantages, physical activity plays an important role in promoting mental health and well-being and social development in children. Schools provide many opportunities for physical activity, in the form of structured and unstructured play, as physical education within the formal academic curriculum or through informal and formal organised sport, including competitive intra- or inter-school activity. This policy brief focuses on formal organised sport in schools and provides guidelines on how to manage school sport during a pandemic. It is premised on the fact that sports participation is important for both the physical and mental well-being of children, as a platform for safe and enjoyable physical activity, and a foundation for acquiring life skills and promoting social interaction. This brief draws on the principles and benefits of physical activity articulated by complimentary policy briefs in this series and from other literature. It is the outcome of a collective effort of experts concerned about the current and future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and adolescents who engage in organised sports in school. As many types of organised sport involves close physical contact, it is designed to provide guidance to all those engaged in organised sport in schools; participating learners, educators, coaches, parents/caregivers, spectators and the communities, on how to practice the best possible safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. This policy brief is best used alongside safety guidelines developed by Health Departments of national, regional and local governments and international health guidelines, as set out by the World Health Organisation (WHO) pandemic response team. Further, this document augments existing school organised sport policies, but can also serve as a stand-alone guide.

Springbok prop Richard Bands talks about opportunities in rugby and how to coach scrums

 

School sport around the world has changed overnight due to the coronavirus and has become more efficient and focused to allow all kids not matter their ability to express themselves the best that they can be on the sporting field. As a coach you need to stay ahead of the curve and keep yourself updated with all the new training tips and methodologies. We enable you to do this through our fortnightly webinars with a generic focus on sport. This weekend we focused on rugby. Richard Bands Springbok Rugby player and now a coach at Tuks The year seems like it has been a disaster for school leavers but it is not. There is still a way to get into professional rugby and have a successful career. He also spoke about a holistic coaching strategy and issues that he has with the way that school coaches coach scrums

Join our webinars at www.intunecom.co.za

Sports Opens Doors for young female athletes - Libbie Janse van Rensburg

 

School sport around the world has changed overnight due to the coronavirus and has become more efficient and focused to allow all kids not matter their ability to express themselves the best that they can be on the sporting field. As a coach you need to stay ahead of the curve and keep yourself updated with all the new training tips and methodologies. We enable you to do this through our fortnightly webinars with a generic focus on sport. This weekend we are going to focus on rugby. Libbie Janse van Rensburg Tuks Womens Rugby Club Program coordinator and Athlete. She will talk about Women's Rugby opening doors for young female athletes allowing young girls to study, play competitive rugby and see the world

Join our webinars at www.intunecom.co.za

The Khaya Majola Cricket Week adds new awards to make the tournament more memorable for the boys

Cricket South Africa and their provincial unions continues to look for new ways that they can improve on the experience at the week for the boys. This year is no exception as the KwaZulu-Natal Inland region adds new awards to the week to make it more memorable for the boys.

Morgan Pillay has been the Tournament Director of the Khaya Majola Cricket Week for the last 23 years in a row and, because the week is always scheduled to incorporate the 16th December holiday, and Morgan’s birthday is on 18^TH December, that means he has not been at home his birthday for almost a quarter of a century.

He’s there again this year as the 2019 week takes place in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal Inland, centred at Michaelhouse, with matches also being played at Hilton College, St Charles, Weston Agricultural school and the Pietermaritzburg Oval 

“The week has always featured the most talented cricketers in the under-19 age group, but many other things have changed since my one as tournament director, in Boksburg in 1996,” he said. “In the process we have created a world class stage that allows all cricketers to showcase their talent. There’s no question that this is the finest high school cricket tournament in the world.”

The boys are being housed at the schools, in luxurious accommodation, with good healthy food and first class facilities. Everything has been sorted so all that the players have to do it play their best cricket, make friends and have a wonderful experience, Pillay said. “All of the schools have gone out of their way to prepare their schools to the best of their abilities to make sure that the tournament runs smoothly.”

There have been a lot of changes to the tournament during Pillay’s time. “For example, when I took over the tournament the umpires and scorers were school children, Now we have qualified umpires and scorers and Cricket South Africa supply a manager to look after the umpires and assessors to make sure that the scorers and umpires do their jobs correctly.”

CSA use the week as training for their scorers and umpires, while providing the players with a top class service. This also creates an incentive for the scorers and the umpires to be at the week.

“The top players from each cricketing region come to the tournament and this allows the boys to measure themselves against their peers from across the country  top boys in other regions,” Pillay said. “This allows the players to meet others who they would not usually get to mix with. They can make friendships that can last for life.”

This year the LOC from KwaZulu-Natal decided that they needed to add something to the tournament that will make the tournament different from the others in the past.

They added the awards for the best bowling and batting performance for each day, they would recognize batsmen with awards for all of the centuries scored and the fastest century of the tournament.

To recognize the bowlers they added awards for all of the 5 wicket hauls and hat-tricks during the week.

Finally they looked at what the tournament means for a lot of the kids and that is making lifelong friendships and enjoying a memorable week so they added a fair play award for the player that was best in playing the game in the spirit of the game.

These awards will be given out at the awards ceremony on Friday evening together with the player of the tournament, the leading wicket taker, the leading run scorer and the best all-rounder awards.

Powerade continues Exclusive Performance Academy for Coaches

Port Elizabeth hosts the second Powerade Performance Academy of 2019 in Nelson Mandela Bay on the 28^th July 2019. The academy sees expert performance coaches being part of an interactive session of empowering and enriching lessons for school coaches.

For this year’s academy Malibongwe Maketa assistant coach to the Proteas, Verlie Oosthuizen Partner and Head of Social Media Law at Shepston and Wyrle Associates, John McGrath Luvo Manyonga’s high performance coach, World-renowned high-performance coach, last Strongman of Africa and Motivational speaker and Kass Naidoo South Africa’s first women cricket commentator and founder of GSports will be take the coaches through critical lessons on how to tackle aspects of coaching on and off the field of play.

Popular local, Malibongwe Maketa has first-hand experience on what Port Elizabeth has to offer and is excited to share his knowledge with the coaches from the province to help them take their coaching to another level. Malibongwe will talk to the coaches about identifying talent as he has been involved in identifying the talent that is currently at show at the Warriors Cricket side.  He forms part of the Proteas setup where the work that school coaches do at grassroots level comes to fruition.

Academy allows the attending coaches from the various school sporting codes to go back to their respective schools in the spirit of ‘teach one, teach all’.

Powerade is dedicated to finding ways to innovate and support sports men and women’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.

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 achievements with their peers. The next leg of Powerade Performance Academies will take place in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

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

ENDS

Notes to Editor

Speakers for Performance Academy in Port Elizabeth

Malibongwe Maketa: Current Proteas assistant coach and former coach of the Warriors Cricket Team.

Topic: Identifying talent

Verlie Oosthuizen: Partner and Head of Social Media Law at Shepston and Wyrle Associates.

Topic: Beware of Social Media

John McGrath: Luvo Manyonga’s high performance coach, World-renowned high-performance coach and last Strongman of Africa and Motivational speaker and performance artist

Topic: Changing sports paradigms

Kass Naidoo: 20 years in journalism, South Africa’s first women cricket commentator and founder of GSports

Topic: Six of the best

Exceptional talent found at the Mamelodi Sundowns Development Camp

Mamelodi Sundowns development coach, Rhulani Mokoena, believes the future looks bright for Bafana Bafana.  This is based on the exceptionally skilled players, scouted at the Sanlam Kay Motsepe Schools Cup  national finals, currently in a camp put on by the Club.

“I want to commend my team of scouts for their selection as all 22 boys that are  here have the potential to make the Bafana Bafana team one day.  There are no exceptions,” said Mokoena.  “From the first day I could tell that they were technically skilled so we focused on the mental side and their overall understanding of the game,” said Mokoena. “There they lack a little bit, but that’s a common mistake that all players have - a lack of applying their mental game onto the field.”

The squad has played 2 games so far. They beat a Nike Chance team 3-0, and drew 0-0 with the Sundowns u-19 Academy team (Clapham High School). “That’s not a bad result considering the fact that they have never played as team before,” says Mokoena. “I can name a few boys that have caught everyone’s  attention here . Tani Mpusana-Louis Botha, Jason Skippers of-Cloetesville High School, Lugiano Knopp of Okiep High School and Reginald Tsoela of Harmony are all quality players who could well be playing in the PSL soon.

“It’s difficult to speak of major improvements in a few days as more than a week is needed to improve a player’s skills. Our main goal for the camp was to target specific techniques, team work and communication with fellow players and the mental aspect of the game.  These boys are so used to their way of doing things, but they now know what is expected of them and I know that they will carry what we taught them forever.”

This was endorsed by Gian De Jongh of Okiep High School in the Northern Cape.  “What I have learnt from this one week has impacted my game for ever.  Perhaps the most enlightening lesson is how to better position myself on the field.  Sometimes players don’t know where they are supposed to be when a game is in play, and that’s where mistakes tend to happen. You need to optimize your position without slacking off on your duties.”

It’s also been about making friends and De Jongh says he has got to know Kabelo Mabesa more as a friend than a team mate. “We talk about anything and our friendship will continue even after the camp,” he said.  “I know that I will go back home as a different player, I am sure that I will pass it on to my mates that didn’t get the opportunity to come along.”

For Reginald Tsoela he saw the camp as an opportunity to promote his soccer career.  “I would love to play for Sundowns and give them back what they have given me this week.  As a striker you need to be able to make the field work for you.  I learnt so much about creating spaces and opportunities to score goals.  To help with our mental approach they took us out of our comfort zones and I learnt that I can play comfortably in the midfield and centre back.”

Most of the players that attended the camp have just completed Grade 12 and Sundowns has invited all the local Clubs to attend the games and see if they are interested in signing up some of the players.  “I wish we could sign up all the players, but we will only be looking at three or four signing and hopefully the other Clubs will sign up the rest,” said Mokoena

Ofentse Motlhanke	GK	Louis Botha
Junaid Stevens ( PM )	GK	KZN
Tani Mpusana	Defender	Louis Botha
Kabelo Mabesa	Defender	Harmony
Mandla Masangane	Defender	Harmony
Lugiano Knopp	Defender	Okiep
Samkelo Nkosi	Defender	East High
Gian De Zongh	Midfielder	Okiep
Elton Kapinga	Midfielder	Benny Sports
Thabiso Mothijang	Defender	Louis Botha
Ernest Mabathoana	Midfielder	Louis Botha
Khuliso Mudau	Midfielder	Benny Sports
Victor Noosi	Midfielder	Harmony
Reginald Tsoela	Striker	Harmony
Muzi Thabotha	Striker	East High
Bojosi Manjoe	Striker	East High
Fumani Mathebula	Striker	Eric Nxumalo
Molefi Gaobudiwe	Midfielder	Freedom
Jason Skippers	Midfielder	Cloetesville
Angelo Van Rooyen ( PM )	Striker	Rietvale High
Sive Klauhse	Midfielder	Executive Academy
Tshepo mskgopela	Defender/MD	TUKS