Eldorado Park school gets new multi-purpose sports field

Multichoice and Canal+ have eradicated an illegal dumping site that was occasionally used as a gang war zone at Boekenhout Primary School (BPS), Zone 3, Eldorado Park.

The space was successfully turned into a multi-purpose sports field that will positively benefit the learners and the community.

It was officially handed over to BPS by the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, alongside the CEO of Canal+ Africa and MultiChoice, David Mignot, and Ward 18 Clr Juwairiya Kaldine, on September 1.

BPS principal Nicolette Groenewald said the space previously posed a serious safety concern for the school and surrounding community.

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She said learners and teachers would sometimes hear gunshots coming from the area while boys ran through the space during shootings.

“When we were in school, gunshots would be heard, and the boys would be running through the dumping, busy shooting. And then instruct learners to run into your classrooms, shut the doors, lay flat,” she said.

Groenewald said she was determined to ensure the space would no longer be used by criminals.

She recalled an incident where she confronted boys who were trying to enter the school premises while carrying guns.

“I kicked my shoes off and I ran towards them. And they were trying to scale that fence. And I said, you put your feet again on my premises. If you are not coming to play sport, you are not coming to run with a gun here,” she said.

She said the new facility has opened opportunities for learners to participate in different sports.

“The ladies will be able to play netball, the boys will be able to play soccer, rugby,” she said.

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Groenewald said the school can now envisage opportunities that were previously not possible.

Private sector investment
She said the school still needs to complete some work around the facility, including the installation of track, grass and floodlights to allow the space to be used at night.

McKenzie thanked the companies involved in the project and said it was encouraging to see the private sector putting millions of rands back into communities.

“You have to bring the private sector back to work with the government in this department. That was one of the instructions the president gave me,” he said.

He said the facility would have a greater meaning in Eldorado Park because it was not only about sport, but also about giving young people an alternative to gangsterism and crime.

“If you put this facility in Sandhurst, the very same facility, it will have a different meaning, a lesser meaning, a far lesser meaning, than this one in Eldorado Park because it will just be for sport, for kids in centres that are interested in sport,” McKenzie said.

“Here, it takes kids away from gangsterism. It takes kids away from crime. It gives kids something to look forward to. It teaches them discipline. It does so many things for residents”

Creating access to sport

Mignot said the project was about more than the handover of a sports court, but about creating access and recognising the potential that exists in every child, community and school.

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He said the lack of access to sporting infrastructure should not stand in the way of children’s potential.

The multi-purpose facility has been designed to support football, netball, modified hockey and volleyball, creating opportunities for more learners to participate in more sports on a regular basis.

“Our goal at Canal+ and MultiChoice Group is to help build a culture of participation in sport from an early age and to make sport part of everyday school,” Mignot said.

He said sport teaches young people teamwork, discipline, respect, perseverance and resilience, which are values that can be used on the sports field, in the classroom, in society and in life.

Sport as an alternative

Former Eldorado Park resident and former Bafana Bafana midfielder Stanton “Stigga” Fredericks said the facility would give learners an opportunity to participate in structured leagues.

He said schools from surrounding areas could use the facility to compete against each other.

“What does this do? It takes you away from doing the wrong things. After school there’s competition. We know that sport teaches you so many valuable lessons that you can take,” he said.

Fredericks said even those who do not become professional sportspeople can use the discipline, teamwork, hard work and ability to take instructions they learn through sport in their everyday lives.
He said the facility could play a role in changing young lives in Eldorado Park.

“Sport changes lives. Our Nelson Mandela says that. And I think I’m living proof of that and so many other footballers that come from areas like this,” he said.

A changing Eldorado Park
Looking back on his childhood in Eldorado Park, Fredericks said the area had changed over the years.“When you mention Eldorado Park, you never used to think about violence. It was never a place of violence. It was a cool, calm place,” he said.

Fredericks said sport now has a massive role to play in the rehabilitation of young lives in the community.