Afrika Tikkun seeks wider reach of football players in Alex for its child development programmes
By sponsoring the Afrika Tikkun Champions League Football Tournament, the NGO hopes to have a wider reach of children that will ultimately benefit from its various programmes at the Phuthaditjaba Centre.
Afrika Tikkun has described its decision to sponsor a football tournament as an extension of its work within communities.
“People must not take this to mean we are now branching away from our core function but must see it as an extension of our work within our footprint areas to ensure we reach as wide a spectrum of the children and youth as possible.
“We believe no child or youth must be left outside of this programme as we endeavour to build a holistic development of our children to become better future citizens and leaders of our country,” said Phuthaditjaba Afrika Tikkun Centre manager Patricia Moloi during the launch of the tournament and kit handover to participating teams in Alexandra.
The centre has long had a club whose teams ply their trade in the Alexandra Northrand Local Football Association’s various age divisions, starting from U13 up to U19, and also has teams in Braamfontein, Diepsloot and Orange Farm.
All these areas will play their own Champions League Football Tournaments that will culminate in the selection of squads in the U13 and U15 divisions to participate in a tournament from each area. The squad teams will then battle it out with their counterparts from other areas to crown the championship teams in both age divisions.
Moloi urged other clubs to join the centre’s programmes so that their players too can benefit from them.
Alex Northrand LFA secretary general Malvin Khumalo, who is also a Tikkun employee in charge of their Youth Accelerator Programme, was quick to allay fears from clubs who might feel joining the centre might amount to being swallowed by Phuthaditjaba FC.
“You are free to join the programmes of the centre but you will still keep your clubs as independent entities like before. We have players from other clubs who are also in the centre’s programmes but still play for their clubs. This does not mean you will be joining Phuthaditjaba FC,” Khumalo explained.
The centre runs programmes such as Child and Youth Development, 360 Social Support Services, Lifestyle Health and Fitness, Cradle to Career, Early Child Development and After School Care, just to name a few.
