Netball festival honours women
Nomdayi Community Games organised a netball festival on Women's Day to highlight the often overlooked sport and to honour women in sport.
Kwa-Thema – Nomdayi Community Games hosted an inaugural netball festival in honour of Women’s Day on August 9 at the sports complex.
The atmosphere was abuzz with excitement as the supporters cheered for their favourite U15 and U19 teams.
“The idea of this netball festival comes from the organisation’s objectives of sports promotion and talent identification, with the assistance of the Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation.
“We would have liked to include Duduza and Tsakani but for now we worked on a small scale and wanted to see how successful the first one would be.
“Netball has been one area without much support from the public and the fact that it focuses on the girl child, we saw it fit to contribute towards small club development based in Kwa-Thema,” the CEO of Nomdayi Community Games, Mandla Mabena said.
Mabena acknowledged the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE), the Gauteng premier’s office, and the Department of Sports for donations of gifts and netball kits.
He stated although teams won the tournament, it should be seen as a celebration rather than a competition.
“More than anything, we organised this event because we want to see our girls being properly groomed by other women.
“Reckless lifestyles should not distract them, but to work hard until their hard work pays off,” he added.
The young athletes who constituted the day’s main event emphasised the significance of honouring women in sports.
“I think it is important to celebrate women in sports because it showcases how strong women are and what we are capable of,” K.N.T player, Esihle Sgelem said.
Ulinda U15 and K.N.T U19 won the tournament.
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