/ 8 April 2011

School sport still a field of dreams

Like most township schools, Phembisizwe Secondary School in KwaMashu outside Durban has neither sports fields nor equipment. It had kit for football and cricket teams but after a 2008 burglary at the school it was left with a single soccer jersey, shorts and socks.

Said principal Musa Zamisa: “We have a crime problem in township schools and if sports equipment is stolen, it dampens the spirit of learners and robs them of the opportunity to play their favourite sport.”

Likewise, there are no facilities or equipment at Dlumana High School in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga. The school boasts one dilapidated soccer field and a netball court. “We do wish to introduce a variety of sports, codes such as rugby and cricket, but we are aware that we don’t have the resources and teachers can’t train learners,” said principal Moses Makansi.

The sports and recreation department is aware of the challenge of building new facilities or restoring and maintaining existing facilities in schools and communities.

“As you know, this is an area that requires collaboration among all spheres of government and across government departments,” Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula told stakeholders during a strategic planning conference. “We are anxious to hear from you how we can remove the impediments and ensure that we have world-class facilities from the affluent streets of Rosebank to the dusty streets of eMalahleni and the villages of Thohoyandou.”

Mbalula said the ministry had adopted a multifaceted approach to address the restoration and building of new facilities. “We are relaunching the national school sport programme. Underscoring the launch is the announcement of the formation of local, district, provincial and national school structures, a delivery mechanism and a nationwide Olympic movement to heighten awareness and increase participation.”

Sports and recreation department spokesperson Paena Galane said the ministry’s plans were in line with the vision of the country to increase participation among young people by setting up sports league structures to enable mass participation.

“We will be launching the school sport leagues programme in April,” said Galane. “We will be on the ground, working collectively with districts and schools. Just like during the apartheid era, when we used to have days dedicated to sport in schools, we are reviving that culture of sports days in schools.” Most township schools in dire need of facilities and equipment are waiting for the department to roll out a facilities-building programme.

Said Zamisa: “Officials from the education district have contacted us. They wanted to know what sports equipments we need and they have promised to assist us in building new facilities and to provide us with the necessary equipment. We are waiting for them to come back to us.”

Zamisa said when there is a netball match at the school, the school must write a letter to the local municipality asking to borrow netball poles, which must be returned after the match. “We would appreciate any kind of help. We need poles for netball, a netball kit, a cricket kit. There are boys who play cricket with no equipment. You can imagine playing cricket with a yellow tennis ball. We also need at least two soccer kits because we have two soccer teams at our school. We will jump at the first opportunity to introduce rugby because there are kids who have shown interest, but due to lack of resources, we are unable to do it,” said Zamisa.

The sports and recreation department has partnered with a cross section of entities to bolster its resources. Mbalula said it was finalising a framework agreement with the ministry of cooperative government and traditional affairs to ring-fence a portion of the municipal infrastructure grant for sport and recreation facilities.

He said the department had global partnerships with governments around the world and with international donor agencies. Based on the tradition of the mass democratic movement, he said: “We have already embarked on a campaign to involve NGOs, community-based organisations and associations, individuals, the private sector and the international community. These measures are all aimed at ensuring that we reach every nook and cranny of our society into the hinterland, every one enjoying the same access levels and benefits.”

Mbalula said the department would engage the department of basic education and teacher unions to clarify the role of teachers with regard to extramural activities.

“Remember, the role of a teacher is primarily to teach. What we need are specialists who will serve as resource persons for teachers. These coordinators will play a supporting role for educators and identify gaps and advise on issues of up-skilling, for instance.

Teacher’s union Sadtu said it appreciated and welcomed the sports minister’s plan.

“Sadtu has sent out 90 member teachers (10 per province) on a sportmanagement course. The course will expose teachers to sports codes that are not offered at their schools,” said Sadtu national spokesperson Nomusa Cembi.

Cembi said teachers were already training pupils in sports and were doing their best with the minimal facilities they had.

“We like the vision of the new sports minister. We would like to see the playing fields levelled in terms of equitable provision of sport facilities between the former Model C schools and township or rural schools.”

Civil society organisation the Dreamfields Project, steered by veteran journalist and radio anchor John Perlman, has also taken the initiative of providing indigent primary schools throughout the country with soccer equipment. The Dreamfields Project’s contribution is made possible by corporate sponsorships.

Faranani Primary school in Protea Glen, Soweto, is one of the many schools that have benefited from the Dreamfields Project, which supplied it with soccer kit and balls in 2009.

“Dreamfield’s contribution has kept us afloat amid the challenges we face with regard to sports equipment and facilities,” said the school’s sports master, Lucky Maphatsoe. “We have maintained a good working relationship with it.”

No fewer than 1 574 primary school teams have benefited from the Dreamfields Project, most of them outside the metropolitan areas. Thirteen soccer pitches have been built, of which three are grass fields.

According to the Dreamfields Project’s website, since its launch it has taken the project across South Africa, from Lilydale in the east on the Kruger Park border to Gopane close to Botswana; from Tshisahulu in far northern Venda, to Factreton in Cape Town. But with more than 26 000 schools in South Africa, there is still much more work to do.

“Our job is to keep the kids playing. I would like them to have fun and become great footballers, but as you can see there are no football talent scouts here today, which is sad,” said Perlman during a Dreamfields event at Esihlahleni football ground in Zola, Soweto, a fortnight ago.

In Gauteng the project works closely with the provincial government to identify beneficiary schools. “In consultation with the sports and education departments we are able to identify schools in districts that are organised into clusters. We are happy to follow their lead,” said Perlman. BHP Billiton is the main sponsor. “They are fantastic,” he said. But he said the quality of football is low. “At primary school, they are not skilled in playing football as a team. We must do something. We need to give the teachers football training.”

Maphatsoe said learners with an interest in a sport that their schools cannot provide should commute to Rockville, White City and others in Senaone to harness their skills.

“Lack of sports facilities such as squash, swimming and basketball in most schools in our cluster has led to learners having to attend training in other areas and this has had an impact on the budget as we have to organise transport for these learners,” he said.

Dlumana principal Makansi warned that the lack of resources at school was failing learners. “Sport plays a critical role in developing young people. It teaches youngsters life skills such as time management and discipline.” But until the sports department delivers on its promise, pupils in township and rural schools will merely continue to dream about how their lives would change if sports facilities were built at their schools.