Children of the Dawn hosted a front ball tournament at the newly built facilities in Wesselton

Children of the Dawn in Ermelo hosted a front ball tournament at their newly built facilities at the Mpumalanga Stadium, Wesselton, on Thursday, 4 April.

The Southern Africa Regional Front Ball Tournament was a first of its kind on African soil with international teams participating.

A total of four countries took part in the tournament namely Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique and South Africa, who boasted of two teams from the Children of the Dawn’s Qwaqwa and Ermelo branches.

The United Kingdom (UK) also took part with officials from the UK officiating and overseeing the matches.

Msukaligwa Municipality’s Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Community Services, Ms Julia Bal, who was standing in for the Executive Mayor, Mr Joseph Mkhaliphi, gave the keynote address, wishing the tournament a success.

Ms Bal officially opened the front ball facilities at the stadium, the only front ball facility in Africa.

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Front ball is a relatively new sport in South Africa.

It originated in the South of France to federate all international practices of games played with a ball, by hand, against a wall.

The Front Ball Federation has a development arm, Open Walls Academy.

The aim of the academy is to reach out to vulnerable children who struggle to access sport.

Children of the Dawn and front ball joined forces to open the first club on the African continent in Qwaqwa.

The Ermelo branch joined the fray and has produced world champions who have competed on the international stage in countries such as France and Mexico.

Each team brought their A-game with world champions wanting to cement their championship status.

Lerato Machuene from Pretoria outclassed all his opponents, defeating world champion, Sifiso Gumbi from Ermelo in the boy’s final match.

Motedi from Pretoria showed mettle as she came out on top in the girls final match where she defeated Qwaqwa’s Matselanga Ramokali.

Tournament organizer, Ermelo branch manager, Mr Tafayeli Zulu, was ecstatic by the turn out.

“We are thankful to the sponsors, the municipality, the Department of Culture, Sports and Recreation (DCSR) and all stakeholders who made the day possible,” Mr Zulu said.

“This is a great way to get the children active and have fun at the same time,” he concluded.

The winners and runner-ups of the tournament will participate in the third Front Ball Academy Games in July in France.

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