Children gain lasting benefits from the Foundation's sport programmes
Established in QwaQwa in 2002, the Transnet Rural and Farm Schools programme is one of the flagship projects within the Transnet Foundation’s sports portfolio.
With the aim of identifying and developing sporting talent in rural areas, the programme focuses on athletics, chess, football, and netball and targets learners aged 12 to 17 from 300 schools in seven provinces. To date, more than 100 000 learners have participated in the programme.
The Transnet Foundation supplies the necessary sporting equipment and kits to all the schools and manages the sports development leagues per province. To scout for promising talent, the Foundation also hosts annual talent selection tournaments across the country and stages a national tournament, where all seven provinces compete against each other with the various national sporting code federations in attendance.
Once top athletes have been identified, Transnet hosts them at an annual camp, where they undergo training by coaches from the various provincial federations. Selected learners remain in the system for up to six years, from age 12 to 17.
Beyond training the athletes themselves, the Foundation also manages accredited training for coaches, technical officials and team managers through the provincial federations. Transnet is also involved in the construction of multi-purpose courts and soccer pitches in provinces where the project is run.
The Transnet Rural and Farm Schools programme is in the process of establishing partnerships with the Premier Soccer League, Netball South Africa, Chess South Africa, and Athletics South Africa.
To date, approximately 10 boys have been identified and awarded scholarships by the coaches from the SAFA/Transnet Football School of Excellence. Three girls from the project have been awarded scholarships to study at the Rosina Sedibane sports school in Pretoria. Other athletes have been drafted to play for professional teams such as Orlando Pirates, Banyana Banyana, and several others.
The programme delivers multiple benefits: communities gain lasting benefits from access to the infrastructure that Transnet builds at the schools and from having qualified coaches better equipped to develop community teams. During the local tournaments, community businesses prosper as Transnet utilises them for catering, accommodation, security, and various other elements. For rural youths, the programme has provided new educational opportunities and has contributed to improved class attendance rates, increased pass rates and improved physical fitness with an associated reduction in common illness. Rural youths kept active by the programme are also less likely to become involved in destructive or antisocial behaviour, thanks to their participation in sports.