Category: Sports

National School Sport Championship 2023 winter games are back for yet another thrilling youth championships in Ekurhuleni

The National Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) in partnership with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation invite members of the media and the general public to yet another exciting edition of the 2023 National School Sport Championship. This years’ winter games championships will take place from Tuesday, 04 – Thursday, 06 July in Benoni and Boksburg, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality in the Gauteng Province.

Over 3 456 athletes from across all the 9 provinces will participate in this years’ National School Sport Championship winter games. The young athletes from different genders, age and racial groups will battle for various championship honours in several sporting codes that among others include, football, netball, rugby, tennis, Kho-Kho, volleyball, Jukskei and hockey as well as chess with games simultaneously taking place across various sporting fields within City of Ekurhuleni.

The championships will include a social cohesion and nation-building campaign, “A Child First, an Athlete Second”, an awareness campaign linked to the safeguarding of children in sport; as well as other sport development awareness campaign such as ‘NO TO AGE CHEATING’, and ‘NOT TO SUBSTANCE ABUSE.’

Spearheaded by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, and the Department of Basic Education, the National School Sport Championships remains the premier bedrock platform for sport development. The winter games Championships will culminate with awards presentation, and the official closing ceremony on the afternoon of Thursday, 6th of July.

The Winter Games Championships will unfold as follows:

Date: Tuesday, 04th – Thursday, 06th of July 2023.

Times: 08h00 – 18h00?

Venues: Volleyball – John Barrable Hall

Tennis – Benoni East Tennis Court

Chess – Benoni High School

Hockey – Benoni Northern and St Dunstan School

Netball – Benoni High School

Jukskei – Boksburg Jukskei Club

Kho-Kho – Benoni Northern -B

Rugby: Hoërskool Hans Moore

Football – Benoni Northern-B (ASC) U/15; Benoni Northern-A u/19 Deaf; and St Dunstan School u/17

Source: Government of South Africa

South Africa’s women’s football team, known as Banyana Banyana, are in turmoil ahead of the World Cup due to be held in Australia and New Zealand later this month.

On Sunday, the players boycotted a warm-up match against neighbouring Botswana to show their dissatisfaction.

Banyana Banyana are one of Africa’s top teams having won the Africa Cup of Nations last year.

Unequal pay, salary disputes and anger over bonus agreements are the main reasons for the long-standing clash between South Africa’s most successful national football team and the country’s football association, Safa.

Football’s world governing body Fifa announced an incentive of $30,000 (£24,000) for world cup-bound players.

The South African team asked for written assurances that they would get the money but that hasn’t been forthcoming.

Instead, the players were allegedly told they could leave the camp over the disagreement. Frantic calls were then made by officials to put together a make-shift squad to rescue the friendly match against Botswana and avoid a fine.

The ill-prepared team, which included a 13-year-old, suffered an embarrassing 5-0 loss against a team ranked 96 places below the South Africans.

“Instead of Safa resolving the matter, Safa has been calling clubs and perpetuating poverty, poor and unworkable conditions… the ladies are resolute and we’re in support of them,” the ehad of the players’ union Thulaganyo Gaoshubulwe said.

Safa has told the BBC that negotiations with the team are still going on.

Source: BBC

Netball Namibia (NN) president Rebekka Goagoses says for Namibia to keep its ranking with the International Netball Federation, it needs to be active to avoid being dropped off the log table.

Namibia is currently ranked 23rd out of the 44 netball-playing nations.

In an interview with Nampa on Monday, Goagoses said NN has worked hard in the last five to six years, and they do not want to see the national team lose its ranking status due to not playing matches.

“We currently have a challenge of funding for the national team. We have so many projects lined up but need financial resources. We plan to have camping week for the national teams and participation in international events,” she said, adding that they are hopeful of positive news soon for them to keep the netball teams occupied.

Goagoses added that credit should be given to the leadership of NN for managing to have most of the regional structures active this season.

“Currently, eight regions are active compared to the four regions we had in the past. We can now with pride say Kavango East and West, Omaheke, ||Kharas, Ohangwena, Oshikoto, Khomas and Erongo are playing netball. All this is due to the MTC Premier League’s activeness,” she said.

The NN president also said that despite having action on the field of play, there are challenges at the board level that need to be addressed.

“It is unfortunate that we had to accept the resignation of the vice president of development. It has emerged that the activities and workload in terms of development plans required might not have been the desired expectations, hence the position had to be filled and Juanitha Witbeen has already found her feet,” Goagoses said.

She added that NN secretary-general Iyaloo Mutumubulua also stepped down from her position due to the workload at her full-time employment. She has since been replaced by Eliana Seibes.

“I believe that we are on the right track as the board. Each one is doing their best under the circumstances of financial inabilities. We are all volunteers, however for the love of the game we execute it with pride,” she said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

The National Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) in partnership with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation invite members of the media and the general public to yet another exciting edition of the 2023 National School Sport Championship. This years’ winter games championships will take place from Tuesday, 04 – Thursday, 06 July in Benoni and Boksburg, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality in the Gauteng Province.

Over 3 456 athletes from across all the 9 provinces will participate in this years’ National School Sport Championship winter games. The young athletes from different genders, age and racial groups will battle for various championship honours in several sporting codes that among others include, football, netball, rugby, tennis, Kho-Kho, volleyball, Jukskei and hockey as well as chess with games simultaneously taking place across various sporting fields within City of Ekurhuleni.

The championships will include a social cohesion and nation-building campaign, “A Child First, an Athlete Second”, an awareness campaign linked to the safeguarding of children in sport; as well as other sport development awareness campaign such as ‘NO TO AGE CHEATING’, and ‘NOT TO SUBSTANCE ABUSE.’

Spearheaded by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, and the Department of Basic Education, the National School Sport Championships remains the premier bedrock platform for sport development. The winter games Championships will culminate with awards presentation, and the official closing ceremony on the afternoon of Thursday, 6th of July.

The Winter Games Championships will unfold as follows:

Date: Tuesday, 04th – Thursday, 06th of July 2023.

Times: 08h00 – 18h00?

Venues: Volleyball – John Barrable Hall

Tennis – Benoni East Tennis Court

Chess – Benoni High School

Hockey – Benoni Northern and St Dunstan School

Netball – Benoni High School

Jukskei – Boksburg Jukskei Club

Kho-Kho – Benoni Northern -B

Rugby: Hoërskool Hans Moore

Football – Benoni Northern-B (ASC) U/15; Benoni Northern-A u/19 Deaf; and St Dunstan School u/17

Source: Government of South Africa

MEC Marais to start Netball World Cup trophy tour on Monday

On Monday, 3 July 2023, the Western Cape MEC of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Anroux Marais, will be receiving the Netball World Cup trophy from the Eastern Cape Government and embarking on a tour across the Western Cape so that communities will be able to see the trophy on display.

The trophy tour will travel as follows:

Monday, 3 July – Trophy is handed over to the Western Cape from the Eastern Cape Government at the Tsitsikamma Khoisan Village (Bloukrans Bridge). Formal programme to start at 14:20 – please note, time is subject to change depending on travelling time and conditions.

Tuesday, 4 July – Trophy to be displayed in Plettenberg Bay (Plettenberg Bay Primary School – 08:00), then travels to Beaufort West (Rustdene Sports Stadium – arrival at 12:00) and Prince Albert (PACT centre and travelling to Sydwill Williams Hall – estimated time 14:30).

Wednesday, 5 July – Trophy goes to George (Unity Park – York street – arrival at 10:30, then Imizamo Yethu High School, Thembalethu at 12:00 ), then to Hartenbos (Legacy Netball Courts at 14:00) and Riversdale (Riverville Sport Grounds at 17:00).

Thursday, 6 July – The tour starts in Swellendam (08:00), then goes to Langeberg (10:30), Drakenstein (14:30) and then to the Swartland area (17:00).

Friday, 7 July – Travel to Saldanha Bay (09:00), then to an activation at the Vredenburg Mall (11:00).

The tour ends on the afternoon of 7 July, when the trophy will be brought to Cape Town (arriving at 15:00), when it will be handed over to the City of Cape Town.

Women’s sport plays an important role in empowering our girls and women and in creating safe spaces for women to connect with each other. We hope to see this World Cup inspiring many more young girls to take up sport within their communities.

The Netball World Cup will also bring a large economic injection to the Western Cape by stimulating the local economy through tourism. It will also create jobs through the creation of large venues for matches to be watched, as well as by increasing demand for local services through tourism.

Now is the time to support our women’s teams as they compete at these international events. Let us all get behind our Netball team as they prepare to keep the cup in Cape Town!

Note to media: The times indicated in the tour schedule are currently only estimates and may change depending on travel times and conditions. Media interested in covering all or parts of the trophy tour, should please contact Tania Colyn to be added to a media whatsapp group for this event. Real time updates for every day of the tour will be given on the whatsapp group.

Source: Government of South Africa

The #BeFree Ballers hosted a 7-a-Side hybrid football tournament on Saturday at Ella Du Plessis High School Sports Stadium for young male and female sports stars.

The Deputy Minister of Sports, Youth and National Service, Emma Kantema-Gaomas, said young men and women should not think their parents are punishing them by keeping them home and away from drugs.

“Parental involvement is crucial, especially when it comes to issues involving children committing suicide,” Kantema-Gaomas said.

Kantema-Gaomas further added that instead of speculating, everyone should join the fight against drug abuse.

“We need to really spend time and interrogate ourselves; we need to motivate our children; we need to speak to them on a daily basis,” Kantema-Gaomas said.

Speaking at the same event was David Emvula, a specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist at Lady Pohamba Private Hospital, who highlighted the dangers associated with drug usage and urged the youth to stay away from smoking hookah pipes and marijuana.

“Sportspersons will be banned from sports if they use substances such as steroids, which is why future athletes must discover themselves and stay away from drugs. Steroids may be advantageous in the short term, but they will cause irreversible damage to an athlete in the long run,” Emvula cautioned.

According to the newly crowned Women’s Super League champion, Tura Magic Football Club’s Thomalina Adams, men in football make more money than women; more men travel to foreign nations to play football, and only a few women go abroad.

She also stated that she is happy with the regional women’s league that is set to kick off in July.

“With this league, hopefully there will be fewer teenage pregnancies and substance abuse because the young stars will be more involved in sports,” she said.

According to Kaarina Iita, the Head of Programmes at #BeFree, the aim of the event was to educate and empower young professionals in the sports fraternity by offering guidance and support.

“The tournament offers a judgement-free platform for open dialogue where the youth can foster a community of self-awareness and understanding of sexual and reproductive health rights,” Iita said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency