SEBOKENG.- Vaal Stars Netball Club will host a fundraising Netball Tournament at Mafatsane Netball Courts in Evaton on Saturday.
This was revealed to Sedibeng Ster Sport by the tournament organizer, Lebohang Mphuth, one of the few men who is passionate about netball. Speaking to Sedibeng Ster Sport, Mphuthi said that they invite all the netball teams in and around Sedibeng to come to be part of this fundraising event.
Mphuthi said the tournament is meant to raise funds for the club since the clubs don’t have sponsorship. The participation fee for each player is R20. To date, most of the netball teams are struggling because they don’t have sponsorship in the form of financial assistance.
For example, when the players are selected to represent Sedibeng Netball Federation at the Netball Championships, they struggle to raise funds for accommodation, transport and uniform. This has been a challenge for the past ten years since the days of the former Sedibeng Netball Association President, Dudu Msane.
To make it worse, some years back, the Sedibeng Netball Association lost some of its players in a horrific accident travelling to Cape Town for the annual netball championships. The accident left others paralysed and passed on during the following years because of the impact of the accident.
The attempt to raise funds for the selected Sedibeng Netball Team to travel with a plane or luxury bus to the championships that are held in Cape Town every year seems to be a mission impossible despite all the effort.
“Look, part of the fundraising is to help players who will be selected for the Sedibeng Netball Team because most of these players come from disadvantage families,” said Mphuti.
“We make a humble plea to the business people and companies to come on board to help our netball federation to grow like in other regions. As Vaal Stars Netball Club we appeal to our community to support this initiative and to also contribute just R20. We will be really grateful if each family can contribute R20 on the day,” said Mphuthi.
Mphuthi also believes that there is a need for intervention from the local municipality to improve the condition of netball in the community.
For more details about the tournament Mphuthi can be contacted at 072 901 8770.
