WATCH: Budding South of Johannesburg canoeist gems to be uncovered
Peter Russouw of Sports4life hopes to uncover the hidden gems of canoeing in Turffontein and Rosettenville.
Peter Rossouw is a man with a dream to uncover the hidden sporting gems in the South of Johanneburg. Peter, having been involved with the sport of canoeing from most of his life, founded Sports4life which was registered in 2016 as an NGO.
The Sports4life canoeists are currently using the facilities of the Johannesburg Canoe Club, situated on Wemmer Pan. What makes the facilities of Wemmer Pan so amazing is that it is the only city dam with dprint lanes available to canoeists.
“There are hundreds of junior and high school learners in the greater Rosettenville and Turffontein area that, given the right opportunity and training, can excel in sprint and marathon canoeing,” says Peter. “One of them, Alex Masina asked me 11 years ago, when he was nine years old, if I would teach him to canoe. He has since become a legend.”
In 2016, Alex won the Senior Schools SA Victor Ludorum Title for canoeing, and in 2017 he won the U18 Bronze Medal at the World Canoe Marathon Championships. In 2018 he was awarded his Junior Springbok colours for canoeing.
“Alex is an inspiration to so many aspiring young athletes and canoeists as he comes from a very humble background in Rosettenville. If he can rise up and conquer, maybe many more young people can follow in his footsteps,” says Peter.
Peter is currently assisting young people from the area in learning the noble art of canoeing. It is his dream to give these young people the opportunity to prove themselves. Helping him with this is Peter Chissano who acts as an assistant coach. “We are currently developing our Learn to Swim School and our Learn to Canoe School simultaneously at Wemmer Pan,” says Peter . “Once we have taught the children to swim, we then transition them into becoming canoeists, unless they feel strongly that they just want to continue as swimmers.”
To make the dream of enabling the children to reach their potential, Peter wants to buy the buildings next to the Johannesburg Canoe Club to facilitate the young sportsman. “We need to raise R2- million to buy the buildings we need that front into the dam and then another R1.75-million to extend and to fully equip them.”
For more information on Sports4life please visit https://sports4life.co.za
