In a major stride toward enhancing sport in Boksburg, Hoërskool Dr EG Jansen unveiled the Bateleurs Multisport Centre, which blends sport and recreation, on April 8.
Situated in the heart of the school, the indoor facility was donated by the Bateleurs NPO, a group of Boksburg businessmen who have joined forces to erect infrastructure in the community and the school.
“A huge word of thanks to the Bateleurs. They want to enhance schools in Boksburg, especially EG Jansen so that our children won’t have to leave Ekurhuleni to get schooling in other areas,” said cricket director Andrew Nel.
While the facility will mainly be used for cricket development, with one-on-one and net sessions with professional coaches, its importance to the school is underlined by its multipurpose function.
“It will also host cultural and social functions. It’s also a netball court which we can use in case of bad weather. For hockey, the idea is to add an Astro in the future,” explained Nel.
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Cricket academy
Nel dreams of the school and Bateleurs Centre becoming a cricket hub for Boksburg to enhance the sport in the community and develop players from pre-school to high school.
“We are building a cricket programme and this centre is the pinnacle point of that programme to give cricket an injection within the broader community. EG Jansen is already involved in outreach programmes with communities like Geluksdal on the cricketing side. We want to become a hub for Boksburg and Ekurhuleni,” Nel said.
Nel previously served as the cricket head at Hoërskool Marais Viljoen in Alberton. Under his guidance, the school produced U19 junior internationals Dewan Marais and Ashleigh van Wyk, who represented SA at the ICC U19 World Cup and ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, respectively.
“We want to enhance cricket in Boksburg. From 16:00 to 20:00, it will be opened to the whole community to get involved.”
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