The Lion Stars Youth Foundation, an NPO and football club in Kempton Park, recently hosted a Youth Day sports event at Sir Pierre van Ryneveld High School.
The aim was to raise awareness and take a stand against the scourge of drug and alcohol abuse facing the community of Kempton Park.
The Lion Stars are passionate about taking children off the streets and getting them involved in activities that inspire positivity and can change their lives for the better.
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The Kempton Express caught up with the Lion Stars Youth Foundation head coach, German Hopa.
“We organised this tournament to reach out to young boys in the community. We have a drug abuse problem in the community.
“Some of them succumb to peer pressure from their friends, so we are trying to gather all of them and get them away from negative things,” he explained.
The annual U19 tournament comprised eight teams, with some coming from as far as Soweto and Pretoria.
Hopa said the event was the first U19 tournament of the year.
Other tournaments earlier this year were for younger age groups, including U13 and U15.
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Lion Stars did not win the tournament because they were beaten 2-1 in the semis by George Khoza FC from Soweto, which went on to play Jomo City from Voslorus in the final.
Jomo City walked away as 1-0 winners.
“We host these tournaments because we want to bring a positive influence to the lives of young boys.
“Some of them want to play soccer and not do drugs, but they get influenced by their friends to do negative things, so they also get involved in all of that and end up not chasing their dreams,” said Hopa.
He added that the foundation would not stop trying to engage with young people.
