Not all learners are good at academics, some are talented in sports.
These are the words of Sihle Mkele, a school coach at Bongolwethu Primary School in Browns Farm, Philippi.
She was commenting on the school’s partnership with Hoops 4 Hope (a non profit organisation (NPO) that uses sports and life skills as vehicles to educate learners about social ills) following the introduction of basketball as a sport at the school.
On Thursday 20 October, the school held its first training session.
Mkele described the session as a great initiative as most learners showed interest.
“We have different sporting codes like soccer, baseball, netball etc that we already have at school. So, I decided to approach Hoops 4 Hope to come to school to assist in training basketball. We wanted to expose the learners to a different sport code,” said Mkele.
She stated that since basketball is still a new project at the school the Hoops 4 Hope comes once a week. She added that Hoops 4 Hope is not only helping them with basketball but also has life skills. “Sport helps children to be disciplined, have healthy bodies and stay away from the streets,” she said.
Hoops 4 Hope programme coordinator Thabo Marotola described the event as part of coaching clinics that they usually conduct to convey the message to the learners.
He said they aim to resuscitate the sport in the townships.
“When the school invited us we grabbed the opportunity with both hands. We are training the learners basic skills like dribbling, passing and ball handling,” he said adding that they are intending to approach other local schools in Philippi.
He stated that they are already working with Mzamomhle primary in Philippi. Linge primary in Nyanga, Lwazi primary in Gugulethu, Nkazimlo primary from Khayelitsha.
“We plan to recruit more schools so that we can establish our local league,” he said.