Images: Sporting Chance
Streets in under-resourced communities are often associated with the negatives of crime, drugs and gangsterism. Sporting Chance wants to change that.
On Friday, the streets of Langa were a hub of festivity and action as children from communities around Cape Town battled it out for the coveted Sporting Chance Street Sports Champions’ Trophies.
There could only be one winner. The Street Sport Soccer winners were Khayelitsha Heroes, while Ocean View Stars United finished as runners-up. Khayelitsha Swallows won the Street Sport Cricket and Langa Australia came out second .
For the past six weeks, over 250 young learners from Langa, Ocean View and Khayelitsha (where sporting facilities and resources are scarce) have grabbed the opportunity to showcase their skills and compete in adapted versions of cricket and soccer, played on the streets of their communities.
For 18 years, the Sporting Chance Street Sports Programme has allowed thousands of children to participate in sports on the streets, where they live in a safe and structured environment.
Sporting Chance founder and MD Brad Bing says, “We organise children under the age of 13 into teams of six with at least two members of each team being girls. Sporting Chance’s goal is to get as many children as possible, regardless of race or gender, away from negative influences on the streets and open up opportunities for them to foster interest in education and life skills that sports participation brings”.
Cricket South Africa has endorsed the Cricket component of the tournament and forms part of the body’s cricket pipeline. Bing says, “It’s so exciting to present a platform that allows for raw and natural talent to be identified and nurtured, and in addition to that, the joy this programme brings to the children participating is just incredible”.
The Street Sports Programme – in partnership with Sportsmans Warehouse, the Maurits van Nierop Foundation with product support from Food Lovers Market, Peninsula Beverages and Bold Gear – introduces children to an active lifestyle and aims to provide them with healthy alternatives to social evils, thereby helping them to change their lives.
