Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation Matome Chiloane handed over sports Equipment to 150 schools during a ceremony held at the Brixton Multipurpose Centre in Brixton, West of Johannesburg. A total of 75 football kits and 75 netball kits were handed out. The packs include playing kits, balls, bibs, whistles, watches and more.
This initiative is part of the Provincial flagship School Sport Wednesday League program, which targets identified non-fee-paying schools, including those for learners with special educational needs (LSEN).
It is part of the efforts to strengthen sports development in the province through focusing on school sports and the abundance of talent found at that level. Young talent from Gauteng schools is doing well which is a testament to the efforts by the province in strengthening school sports and building champions from the grassroots.
According to MEC Matome Chiloane, schools are rightly placed to help identify and unearth talent that will go on to become national assets and as such the provincial government has committed to ensuring none of the talent is missed in both sport and the arts.
“We have resolved that every school should have an extracurricular programme and that every learner shall participate in any of the activities within the programme which will be included in the academic report at the end of the year.
“Everyone including parents, teachers, and community leaders need to get behind this young talent starting from the grassroots and make them believe that they can go on to do well and play for big teams including the national teams.”
More schools in other districts will follow making it possible for many others to participate in the Provincial School Sports Wednesday League programme. Starting next year the league will include more sporting codes including volleyball, basketball and others with Arts and Culture and creative arts also forming part thereof.
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