Small cricket club, big dreams

Jacob Mafa founded the club in 2011 after he saw a need within the Ivory Park community. “We [initially] used beer crates as wickets and an old cricket bat that I got from a friend back in 1998. I still have it,” said Mafa.

“Every kid in the township plays soccer. So I decided to break the stigma by introducing a different sport,” he said.

Mafa realised that a lot of children in his township community were loitering in the streets and at the local community park. “They were exposed to smoking, alcohol and drugs,” he said.

Although there is a lack of support and knowledge within the community about the sport, Mafa said the club had grown tremendously. “We have three solid teams, the U11, U13 and U15, as well as the mini cricket kids – mostly girls from six to nine years old.”

Recently, the development club received a donation of cricket kit from the Randburg Cricket Club. Randburg chairman, Jaco Pretorius said, “Mafa is doing a tremendous job with very little support.”

Mafa said the cricket kit would inspire other children to join the club and would build the confidence of the current players. I’m hoping to see kids taking cricket to the next level, playing in big leagues, representing their province, playing in franchises, or even becoming cricket officials or ambassadors in the future,” concluded Mafa.

Details: www.goldenbellscricket.org

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