Alex mini-cricket playing schools join 40th celebration

Learners from various primary schools in Alexandra joined their counterparts from schools in Soweto to hone their skills in the mini-cricket festival games and coaching clinics conducted by their teachers along with some cricket legends.

May 2, 2023

Sipho Siso 2 minutes read

Another Alex boy bowls his ball during the cricket coaching clinic of the KFC Mini-Cricket programme's 40th Anniversary celebration. Photo:- Sipho Siso

Alex mini-cricket playing schools joined the festivities to mark the 40th Anniversary of the KFC Mini-Cricket programme held at the Soweto Cricket Oval at the Elkah Stadium on April 22.

The four Alex primary schools represented at the festival of celebrations included the perennial cricket-playing schools in the township such as Gordon, MC Weiler, Skeen and Ekukhanyisweni.

An Alex girl bowler makes her bowling stint at the KFC Mini-Cricket during a coaching clinic session to mark the programme’s 40th Anniversary. Photo: Sipho Siso

Themed ‘Back to our Roots’, the festival included mini-cricket games played by the other participating schools from Soweto which also witnessed a cricket game played by some of the legends of the game from Soweto and other areas.

This demonstrated the significance of Soweto as the base from which the mini-cricket programme was kick-started in 1982 and has since gone on to spread throughout the country.

Some of the children at the KFC Mini-Cricket festival take a drill before the start of the games and clinic. Photo: Sipho Siso

The Soweto community festival followed other community festivals that were held across the country in the last three months to mark the 40th Anniversary of the programme that has gone on to produce some outstanding legends of the game country wide.

One of the long-standing volunteer coaches of the mini-cricket in Alexandra and a teacher at Gordon Primary School is Makhosazana Tshabalala, who declared her love for the sport while still a high school learner in Soweto after fleeing Alex due to brutal apartheid police activities.

An Alex boy bowls during a cricket coaching clinic for the KFC Mini-Cricket festival to mark the programme’s 40th Anniversary. Photo: Sipho Siso

“Alex was a small township then and it was easy for the cops to hunt you down hence I skipped the township during the June 16 Soweto Uprisings in 1976 and sought refuge in Soweto to complete my high school,” she told Alex News.

“I am grateful 1for the opportunity I got to coach children to play the game of cricket and hope to do this until I retire from teaching,” said Tshabalala (63), an Alex-born resident who has been teaching for the past 19 years.

Gordon Primary School teacher Makhosazana Tshabalala takes a break from the hectic coaching duties of the day. She is a coach in the programme who has been there for many years. Photo: Sipho Siso

Cricket South Africa chief executive Pholetsi Moseki said one of the [cricket] body’s strategic objectives were to provide opportunities for ‘all those who want to play the game, and throughout the years, the mini-cricket programme has managed to uphold those objectives’.

This Alex girl completes her runs during the KFC Mini-Cricket coaching clinic to mark the programme’s 40th Anniversary. Photo: Sipho Siso

Andra Nel, KFC marketing manager for brand and purpose, described the mini-cricket programme as more than simply providing sports coaching. “It is about shaping future community members, role models and leaders and most importantly levelling the playing field.”