The Streets of eight Cape Town communities turned into vibrant netball courts on Friday 21 May with the launch of Sporting Chance Street Netball – a regional street netball programme that is part of the City of Cape Town’s Countdown to The Netball World Cup.
768 girls under the age of 13 hit the streets for Street Netball’s inaugural centre pass, which took place simultaneously across the Cape communities of Grassy Park, Elsies River, Mitchell’s Plain, Khayelitsha, Langa, Mfuleni, Ocean View and Nomzamo. Sixteen teams of six players from each community took part in a series of round-robin matches that were a resounding success as the girls vigorously competed in an adapted 5-a-side version of the conventional game.
Build-up to the Netball World Cup
Friday’s event marks the start of an eight-week Street Netball series where weekly matches will be played in each community, followed by the regional finals on Friday 16 June, and culminating in the festival finale which will coincide with the 2023 Vitality Netball World Cup (VNWC) as part of the exciting line-up of events planned around this international event.
Sponsored by the City of Cape Town and Sunbet Cares and endorsed by the Cape Town Netball Federation and Netball South Africa, Street Netball is an initiative conceived and co-ordinated by Sporting Chance, a youth sports development organisation based in Cape Town.
“Sporting Chance has been advocating for years to get children back out onto the streets to play sports. We have also been pushing for increased health education around the importance of playing sports and being active. We want the children to get out there and reclaim the streets – to lead a healthy and active lifestyle.
This is especially important now with so many children suffering from mental health struggles after Covid,” says Brad Bing, managing director of Sporting Chance. “It’s so exciting to present a platform like Street Netball that is getting these girls back out onto the streets whilst also teaching them life skills and guiding them towards future opportunities through the valuable lessons of sport. The joy this event brings to the children participating is just incredible and we are so pleased that our supporting sponsors, the City of Cape Town Events and Recreation & Parks departments, and Sunbet Cares, share our vision.”
Life skills, talent nurturing and hope for the future
Sporting Chance is a sports coaching and developing organisation established in 1990 to break down barriers and show how sports can positively change young lives. In keeping with this mission and vision, the Street Netball initiative also presents a Life Skills programme to all of the girls, that will run concurrently for the eight weeks. “Emthonjeni Counselling and Training, one of our supporting partners, will be working with the girls to equip them with essential life skills to empower them for the future.
In addition to this, SA netball icon Phumza Maweni, and the Phumza Maweni Foundation, as supporting partners, are assisting to identify netball players that display exceptional talent and flair and will mentor and monitor their netball progress going forward.”
“Sport is one of the healthiest ways in which to uplift communities, so we at SunBet Cares are proud to be involved with Sporting Chance’s Street Netball initiative,” says Justin Palte, Head of Marketing at SunBet. “It has created an opportunity to build a positive future for young girls. The programme gives them an alternative to a sedentary lifestyle by focusing attention on sport, rather than getting caught up in negative activities which are often so prevalent in communities.”
The coming weeks promise to be exciting ones as the netball teams battle it out ahead of the regionals on 16 June, and then the much-anticipated culmination at the Festival Finale, which will take place in the Fan Park next to the CTICC to coincide with the 2023 Vitality Netball World Cup (VNWC).
“Cape Town has become the home of netball and the City’s support for the Sporting Chance Street Netball programme forms part of the legacy we want the Netball World Cup to leave behind. We believe that programmes like these are important for the empowerment of young women and the transformation of communities. We are proud to be involved in providing opportunities for the growth and development of these young aspiring netball stars,” says the City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
For more information log onto www.sportingchance.co.za
