Glenwood boys awarded cricket bursaries

GLENWOOD High School’s Sanele Mnqayi and Thamsanqa Kumalo are two of 16 young cricketers who will benefit from the Sunfoil Education Trust (SET) in 2015.

The Trust was launched to support promising young cricketers to develop through the CSA Pipeline while pursuing formal education and training.

The SET will once again be funded through Sunfoil sponsoring R2 000 for every six and R1 000 for every four scored by the Castle Lager Proteas in a home Sunfoil Series Test match. Funding already accumulated since inception of the Trust exceeds R1.5m.

To support young cricketers, CSA has also designed a mentorship and support programme in an attempt to improve the success rate of the recipients. This will be managed by CSA with support and guidance from the Trustees.

“Cricket is very fortunate to have sponsors like Sunfoil who have shown their desire to be involved in our broader society and not just cricket. Their willingness to invest in our talented young children is beyond measure and has to be applauded,” said CSA Chief Executive, Haroon Lorgat.

He congratulated both Sunfoil and the 16 learners who are the first beneficiaries of SET. He said one of the key aims of the Trust was to give impetus to transformation goals by supporting young and talented cricketers who might otherwise drop out from development programmes due to socio-economic needs.

“As a sports administrator I definitely feel this to be one of the best initiatives I have been involved in. Having studied some of the successful candidates it is really heart breaking to see the challenges they have to overcome in order to succeed,” he said.

Shoaib Moosa, sales and marketing director of the Willowton Group, said: “Education is a vitally important part to helping build South Africa as a nation and Willowton Group feel by forming this education trust we can encourage the beneficiaries to study and to help grow future stars in the game of cricket, encouraging children to play cricket which is a great team sport that teaches teamwork and good values.”

He said the Sunfoil development coaching programmes and their tournaments around the country were teaching players that any dream is achievable through perseverance and hard work. Empowering children through sport is just one of the ways that Willowton Group hopes to uplift communities throughout South Africa.

“The Sunfoil Education Trust is an amazing initiative, taking the Sunfoil development cricket one step further by focusing on education, a crucial part of a child’s life. Our aim is to make a meaningful and sustainable difference for others to follow and that in turn these educated cricketers will one day do the same to others in need,” said Moosa.