Cricket development in townships

Head coach and former Easterns first-class cricketer Tshepo Mofokeng says that the initiative is aimed at developing quality black African cricket players.

“We are working towards developing and maintaining effective cricket structures from the grassroots level to the senior structures.

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“This will also broaden access to the game among the disadvantaged black communities.

“We are focusing on providing the schools with access to the facilities,” he says.

He says the new hubs have helped children from the townships to take part in the sport.

“We have 64 boys and 48 girls from 12 primary schools and 5 high schools in the area.

“In 2016 we managed to produce nine national players in the school cricket tournaments.

“Two girls were also selected and this is a big achievement for us,” he adds.

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He says that they want to remove the children from the streets and drugs by keeping them busy playing sport.

He adds that the hub also offers courses to the players who want to become umpires, scorers, coaches, administrators and cricket managers.

One of the challenges they are facing is that parents and community members cannot support the teams when they are playing away from home.

Cricket, he says, is regarded as a game for the privileged.

“We have 12 primary schools that play the sport in the area with only four primary schools that feed to the Duduza Cricket Hub.

“We also have five high schools and only four of them feed to the hub.

“We are also encouraging other schools in the area to participate in the hubs,” he says.