Sport

Giyani soccer tournament takes young people away from the streets

There is no better way to keep youngsters off the streets than to get them involved in sports.

This is what Patrick Sekhula of Loloka village envisioned when he began organising soccer tournaments in his community a few years ago. Starting off as a ward-based sports tournament that was played weekly in his ward, Sekhula had no idea that his dream of getting people together was about to come true. Today, the tournament attracts youth not only from neighbouring villages but from other wards in the area as well.

Players fighting for ball possession

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Sekhula said his sporting journey began when he teamed up with the African Coaching Network (ACN), a non-profit organisation that trains social movements to efficiently organise themselves and guide society toward a non-violent discipline. “At first, we only trained the youth, but later on, I realised that tournaments were the most effective way to get the youth off the streets,” Sekhula continued. “Today, sports activities have become the standard in our community.

“The community gathers here every weekend for sports such as soccer, netball, and Ncuva, a traditional indigenous sport practiced by men,” he explained. However, according to him, soccer draws the most youth to the sports centre every weekend. Last Sunday was no exception; many young people gathered at Loloka Sports Ground to watch soccer teams compete. Mbhedle FC and Mbaula Happy Boys FC were among the teams that entertained the crowd of spectators.

Their game finished 1-0 in favour of the Mbaula Happy Boy

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Emelda Tintswalo Shipalana

Tintswalo Shipalana, a journalist for the Letaba Herald, has been in the media industry for over a decade. She started her journey in radio, but ended up in print which is her first love. She joined the Herald newspaper as a cadet in 2016, where she graduated with a journalism qualification from the Caxton Training Academy. She also has a qualification in Feature Writing from the University of Cape Town and a Media Management qualification from Wits University. She is completing her BA Communication Science degree with UNISA. She sleeps well at night knowing she is a voice to the voiceless and her work contributes to promoting local talent, businesses and service delivery. Her love for her community keeps her working hard every day.

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