Let’s Play initiative launched at Barnard Stadium
The initiative was started with the aim of promoting rugby as a sport as well as encouraging physical activity in children
THE SuperSport Let’s Play Initiative was launched at Barnard Stadium last week Wednesday after it had formed a new partnership with the Valke Rugby Union, which will take part in this project.
“We were approached as the Valke to head up the Let’s Play initiative on the East Rand where we have committed ourselves to playing a part in this great programme that encourages tag rugby for U/9 boys and girls at schools,” William Peacock, the Valke’s development manager, said.
The Valke team committed itself to joining forces with SuperSport as well as the Department of Education and will take over the responsibility of promoting tag rugby at 38 previously disadvantaged East Rand primary schools, three of them being in Kempton Park and Tembisa.
The local schools are Jeugpark Primary School in Kempton and Shukumane and Isekelo primary schools in Tembisa.
“Let’s Play was started by SuperSport as a national effort to encourage physical activity in school children and to also promote rugby at previously disadvantaged schools,” Vaughn Bishop, manager of corporate social investment and enterprises for SuperSport, said.
“Therefore, the programme targets non-playing rugby schools and develops rugby as an extra-curriculum activity at the schools where U/9 boys and girls are taught tag rugby.”
Each school chooses one teacher who will head up the tag rugby team. The Valke has community coaches who will train each of the designated teachers and provide them with the right skills to coach the learners.
SuperSport also provides the schools with brand new rugby equipment. Nationally, about 12 000 school kids are involved in the project.
“This programme has had a fantastic effect on the way rugby is perceived in disadvantaged areas and the skills learned are so important. What’s also wonderful about it is the fact that the kids grow up playing rugby and are given the opportunity to one day play for national rugby teams such as the Blue Bulls,” Peta Kaplan from Schools Sports at the Department of Education said.
The Let’s Play school teams played their first games in the curtain raisers for the Valke U/19 and U/21 Currie Cup matches against the Limpopo Blue Blues on Saturday.
