Sport is an effective instrument for encouraging positive change in South Africa’s diverse population. This was evident as the young and old gathered at 11th Street and Corner Forest Road in Larochelle to celebrate June 16 through sports.
Participation in sport provides a platform for young people to exercise and enhance their general health.
“Continued engagement in sport develops key components such as psychological growth, establishing leadership abilities, self-discipline, respect for authority, competitiveness, cooperativeness, sportsmanship, and self-confidence,” stated Cllr Ronald Harris, the Member of the Mayoral Community Development in the City of Joburg.
He added that sport offers an atmosphere in which young people may grow and develop social skills, as well as form strong connections and relationships.
Corinthians honoured June 16 by hosting the Corinthians Liberation Sport Festival in collaboration with the City of Johannesburg’s Sport and Recreation Department and other stakeholders from Region F, demonstrating an alternative to the social ills that plague today’s communities.
Corinthians is a social enterprise based in the south of Johannesburg and was founded in 2012. Its goal is to use sport to help communities establish connections and generate virtuous social change.
From 16 to 18 June at Larochelle, the three-day sporting festival offered a range of activities and attracted hundreds of people, with friends and families enjoying the moment.
Corinthians intends to reach out to young people of all ages in the neighbouring areas. Three days of sporting competitions in the selected disciplines were held for the youth. They also received nutritious meals and additional training in their respective sports codes.
Corinthians also hosted an imbizo to create a platform for the youth to participate in netball, football, blind soccer and cricket, and to strengthen existing partnerships with the City
of Johannesburg and other stakeholders.
“Corinthians has been training local youngsters in soccer, netball, and cricket since 2012. We have also offered academic support through our after-school programme. We just started soccer and cricket for the blind, which has attracted over 700 young people, and with this passion, Corinthians hopes to lead the blind soccer team to the Birmingham Blind Soccer Championships in 2023,” said Mlungisi Jack Msibi, founder and CEO of Corinthians.
Martha Sibiya, an elderly member of the local community, was among the visitors. “When you look at kids that participate in sports, often they are the ones who perform well in school. They have a better sense of time management because they know things like, ‘I have to be at practice from 4pm to 6pm, so if I want to be in bed by 10pm, that leaves me four hours to finish my homework’”, said Sibiya.
Corinthians hopes that sports will enhance young people’s economic involvement and reduce poverty, gangsterism, and drug use in the neighbourhoods in which it operates.
Written by Ntombifuthi Junerose Nkosi
19/06/2022