Mickey Buyst founded the Hoedspruit Sports Academy (HSA) at the beginning of this year. Buyst has worked for a local school and has thus been involved in various sports disciplines up to a national level. “In the last years Hoedspruit has grown and now has amazing high schools. In the past, the town has lost children to boarding schools outside of the area due to sport and the ability to compete at a higher level,” he says.

This led to the idea of an academy with the vision to keep high school learners in the area. He says there is also a fair number of children in the area who are home-schooled, with no opportunity for sport. “By joining the academy, these children now have the same opportunities to take part in team sport and compete at a higher level,” said Buyst.

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HSA has partnered with Lowveld Academy as a home base and is busy with facility upgrades. “We reached out for assistance from the community and have been able to build two-lane cricket nets with the help of businesses who sponsored it,” he added. HSA utilises the talents and experience of six coaches, and currently offers football, netball, and cricket and will be offering rugby in the near future.

The academy conducts high-performance training on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and sports for juniors on Tuesdays and Thursdays. HSA has also recently started a men’s cricket league and practices on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Visit www.hoedspruitsports.co.za for more information. HSA thanked JAKL Construction, Mopane Group, SPAR, Buco, and Coastal Hire for their sponsorships.