Soccer uplifts inner city youngsters

THE Full Gospel Church of God in Maxwell Street hosted a five-a-side soccer tournament on Saturday for the children living in and around the inner city.

“The Kempton Park inner city and surrounding areas are currently in need of community projects to keep the youth away from the current dangers that seem to be the way of life in this community. The prevalence of crime, drugs and prostitution seems to be corrupting the majority of youngsters at the moment. And that’s the sad truth and part of life which we need to deal with,” said one of the organisers of the event, Barry-John Wyman.

One of the things they noticed in the area is that there is a common denominator youngsters seem to enjoy; and that is playing soccer. Walking through the area, they noticed children would be playing with a soccer ball – new, old, cloth wrapped together – it did not seem to matter to them as long as they were playing.

“Mark Naidoo and myself spoke about how we could positively influence the kids into doing something positive with their lives by providing them an environment where they can play the sport they love and also being exposed to lifeskills and living a Christian lifestyle. Our main objective is to incorporate sport with the Word of God,” he added.

The idea of the five-a-side soccer tournament was then born in order to introduce sports ministry into Kempton Park.

“We received the support of the Full Gospel Church in Maxwell street to use its premises for the tournament . Past Ernest Peens is actively involved in the community and was open to this initiative. The next step was to invite teams to play in this event.

“We approached some of the homes such as All Stars and St George’s, schools and some of the churches in the area and the news of this event was well received. We eventually ended up with 12 teams that registered, including two all-girl teams,” he said.

Local businesses also got involved with sponsorships and they were able to provide all players with meals on the day at no cost and ran a tuckshop for the spectators.

There was much excitement as the teams were told there would be medals for teams that would come first, second and third. The matches were very competitive and the standard of play was very high. However, the players all had fun and shared laughs on and off the pitch. During the tournament the kids were encouraged to show sportsmanship and respect to their opponents and spectators.

“The day was a great success and well supported by the players and supporters. We even had a visit from the local ward councilor, Jaco Terblanche. This event is the first step in a long road where we are going to use sport as a tool to communicate effectively with the youngsters in all aspects of life,” concluded Wyman.

The results for the day were:

Seniors: 1. Mexicans (St George’s). 2. Legopo (All Stars Shelter). 3. Young Soldiers (St George’s).

Juniors: 1. North Rand Boys. 2. Barcelona. 3. Tigers FC.