September is turning out to be a sport month for Mpumalanga
Sports lovers are about to be entertained.
MBOMBELA – September is turning out to be a bumper month for the sporting sector in Mpumalanga with major events lined up during this period.
School Sport takes centre stage First on the bill is the Mpumalanga School Sport Championships, which is happening on September 21 at AJ Swanepoel Stadium in Ermelo.
The championships, which is delivered in partnership with the Department of Education, is aimed at giving pupils a sporting chance in the following sporting codes: basketball, football, jukskei, cricket, rugby, table tennis and volleyball.
It culminates with a National School Championships in December in Pretoria.
Last year, Njabulo Nhlapho of Qambekile Primary School in Ermelo was voted as the best u/13 footballer in South Africa at the national finals and won a bursary of R100 000 for high school education.
Team Mpumalanga going for glory at Indigenous Games Tournament
There is no better way to observe and celebrate Heritage Month than to indulge in indigenous games.
This is exactly what 140 athletes from Mpumalanga will be doing when they participate at the 2013 National Indigenous Games Festival taking place at Tshwane Events Centre in Pretoria from September 20 to 24.
“We have assembled a squad capable of bringing home the gold medal,” says Culture, Sport and Recreation mouthpiece, Ms Sibongile Nkosi, adding that the Mpumalanga Team, which was selected during a two-day selection in eMalahleni in August, has the firepower to topple KwaZulu Natal as the top province in the tournament.
Team Mpumalanga will be vying for top honours against eight other provinces in the following codes: diketo (coordination game), dibeke (running game), khokho (running game), morabaraba (board game), incuva (board game), jukskei (target game), kgathi (rope-jumping), intonga (stick fighting) and drie stokies. Nkosi says the team’s performance has been improving in recent times and they are the side to beat in khokho, kgathi, jukskei and morabaraba.
Adds Nkosi, “We wish the selected players the best of luck and we trust they will represent the province with pride and honour.”
Indigenous Games – played under Siyadlala Mass Participation Programme – are aimed at promoting cultural activities that have a particular appeal to vast sectors of the South African community – young and old, black and white.
It goes without saying that they are more than a recreational sport as they play a pivotal role in promoting national unity and social cohesion.
Youth Camps empower the youth in a bid to address to social ills among the youth, government came with the idea of Youth Camps. The camps are designed to use sport and recreation as a social connector and a powerful development tool.
The Mpumalanga Youth Camp will be held from September 22 to 27 in Pine Lake Inn, White River. Says Nkosi, “Well-designed sport and physical activity programmes are potent mechanisms for fostering healthy youth and individual development, teaching positive values and life skills and for reducing conflict.”
The Youth Camp will also unlock adequate opportunities for positive social interaction through national youth gatherings and strengthen, in an organized and coordinated manner, the ability of young people to work cooperatively across race, ethnicity, gender, geographical location, class, language and creed.
National Boxing Indaba
Mpumalanga will participate in the National Boxing Indaba, which is scheduled from September 27 to 28 in Gauteng. The provincial delegation, which will be led by MEC Sibongile Manana will use the gathering to submit its resolutions from the provincial Indaba.
