Russel Domingo, the Proteas head coach discusses Cricket South Africa’s grassroots development programme and the impact it is having on South African cricket as a whole.
According to Domingo, anyone currently questioning cricket’s commitment to grassroots development in our country need only cast their eyes over any of the multiple KFC Mini-Cricket festivals taking place on a number of playing surfaces around South Africa.
The festivals take place from the most rural of areas in the Eastern Cape, to private schools in Northern Johannesburg and to our country’s biggest cricket stadiums where literally thousands of children at a time are honing their skills and building a love for the game.
Domingo said the statistics which came out of Mini-Cricket post the 2015/16 cricket season, are staggering. “I’m told over 114 000 kids, boys and girls both abled and differently abled, from 5 584 schools around South Africa now participate in the programme.
“This makes Mini-Cricket the biggest grassroots development programme in South Africa by some stretch. In all my travels with the Proteas I have visited every single cricket playing nation in the world and am yet to see anything which comes close,” he said.
Mini-Cricket is the first step in Cricket South Africa’s pipeline to the Proteas and is the first taste of cricket for the majority of children taking up the game. It is a softball version of cricket focusing on participation and fun ensuring every player is given ample chance to bat, bowl and field.
“Mini-Cricket is without a doubt the shining light of sports development in South Africa. With the help of CSA’s valued partners, KFC, I firmly believe the programme has the potential to not only produce future Proteas, but to uplift people and communities and to nurture our country’s future generations,” expressed Domingo.
Read: The meteoric rise of St Stithians Boys’ College cricket
