Cricket making progress
Isaac Phele, head coach of Vosloorus Cricket Club (VCC), shared with Kathorus MAIL readers the success his club has achieved during the 2019 season.
Phele said with the help of different stakeholders, he and his assistant coach, Teboho Molefe, have taken VCC to a level where no one expected it to be.
As head coach, he has established seven teams playing in the junior league. They are two u-8, two u-10, two u-12, and one u-14 teams.
“On top of that, there are four teams in the senior level. They feature in the Colts League. These players range between the ages of 15 and 18.
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“There are also players in the Executive League for open age category ranging between 35 and 40. There are also those in the Promotion League between the ages of 19 and 30. There is a women’s league with players between the age range of 13 upwards,” said Phele, adding that this was a milestone very few expected the VCC to achieve.
He shared with the publication the events he described as the highlights the club achieved.
“We had trials for Promotions League in September at Abinala Primary School to revive the love of cricket for talented players who had quit the game of cricket. We encouraged eight players, and a coach, who had left playing to return to the game. The coach used to be one of the best players during his playing days. This is because we do not want the love of cricket in the township to fade.
“We also staged Meat Express Cricket Day held on Heritage Day, September 24. On this day, Basadi Cricket Team (BCT) for the elderly women played against u-10 team. This game went very well, even though the u-10 team disappointed by losing the game to BCT. The score was 73 all out for the u-10 team while BCT enjoyed the victory with 93 for eight.
“There was also a KFC Mini Cricket Festival talent identification day at Extension 14 on August 31. Five primary schools from Vosloorus took part in this event. Each school featured three u-8, u-10, and u-13 girls. The schools played against each other. The score was not counted. The intention was more to identify talent than worry about who wins the game. We managed to identify 22 players with love and passion for the sport. The players are now part of VCC, and are doing very well,” said Phele.
He added that one school, Abinala Primary School, had been identified as the centre from which cricket would be played and that its cricket facilities had been upgraded.
“We managed to have one of our best crickets playing schools, Abinala Primary School, having its facilities upgraded by the Eastern Cricket Union. The school was identified by Vosloorus Cricket Committee after their match against the Proteas early last year,” said Phele.
He went on to share the VCC’s plans for 2020. “We are planning to improve the state of our cricket fields so that we can attract more teams from the suburbs to play in the township. We would like to have our municipality and ward councillors to work with us in achieving this dream.
“Seeing women being victims of breast cancer, we would like to host a breast awareness campaign by staging a cricket tournament. We plead with our municipality to work with us in achieving this vision.
“If we can have more umpires, coaches, and scorers who can help with officiating the games so that we can run the game without any hindrances because of unqualified officials, we would be unhappy,” Phele said.
Phele thanked all the stakeholders who helped VCC to achieve success this year.
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“I would like to thank the Eastern Cricket Union (ECU) for helping me with my coaching. They developed me from being KFC Mini Cricket coach to level two coaching qualification. With this qualification I can take players to different levels.
“Impala platinum, Sun Carnival City Community Trust and Ekurhuleni Department of Sport and Recreation worked closer with ECU in improving the state of cricket in the township.
“Meat Express for working hand in hand with me, and their sponsorship of playing kits and food during tournaments and games.
“I would also like to thank parents of these children for sending them to training.
“How can I forget to mention KFC Mini Cricket for supporting us with equipment to develop cricket at an early age.
“Lastly, I would like to thank the school principals and teachers for allowing children to be part of this club, and for assisting when we needed the use of their offices to host cricket meetings,” said Phele.
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