The Central Gauteng Lions hosts Night Series Township Tournament

The Night Series Township Tournament kicked off on the evening of Saturday, 16 March with a welcome dinner at the Krugersdorp High School. All matches were hosted at the Azaadville Sports Complex in March.

The tournament truly is the darkroom in which many a young player has been discovered, not only by representing their province, but their country as well. Mogale City is proud to have hosted the tournament, which is an important developmental programme. It was part of a bigger agenda to unearth young talent, especially from areas where not many opportunities for participation in competitive sport are available.

“Mogale City prides itself on knowing that such programmes have played a major role in making sure the likes of Richard Seletswane, Thuthu Nkahle, Tshegofatso Mabe, Jeremiah Marshall, Luwayne Beaufort, Orifiliwe Molefe, Siya Radebe, Thami Radebe and Fufu Mkhize, to name but a few, have a home where their talent was discovered and is now being nurtured. Their skills stand a pretty good chance of being enjoyed by the global sporting world one day,” said the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, councillor Charmaine Ntlatlane Nzwane.

Raisibe Ntozakhe, who previously played for Sunfoil, and is now a Gauteng provincial senior player and South African off-spin bowler accredits her success to such initiatives.

Cricket South Africa is proud of the fact that Central Gauteng Cricket is creating wonderful opportunities for the youngsters in Gauteng.

The tournament adds a little magic to cricket for the talented youngsters from the Gauteng townships, developing and growing the game of cricket where it matters the most – at grass roots level.

Twelve central Gauteng Lions cricket hubs took part in the tournament. This year, invitations were extended to three hubs outside Gauteng, namely KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Eastern Province. Benefits extend to more than just the players, as opportunities are given to upcoming coaches, umpires, scorers, and management through planned workshops that were held during the tournament.