Riverside Festival proves a hit with youth
The Durban North hosted festival is predominantly registered with seven clubs from across KZN.
THE annual Spur Riverside Festival proved to be a huge hit once again with youth from all over the KZN region with a staggering 35 per cent increase on last year’s number of entered teams participating.
According to Derek Field, head of Riverside Hockey Club’s Junior Division, the number of participating teams shot up to 119 from last year’s 88 teams. The Durban North hosted festival is predominantly registered with seven clubs from across KZN, which include Riverside Hockey Club, Glenwood, Northwood Crusaders, INK (Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu), Kearsney, Westville and Ballito North Coast.
“The proof of the success and reach this festival has achieved over the years clearly shows in the number of kids that participated this year. We are thrilled with the growth of the Spur Riverside Festival, which aims to celebrate our youth on this public holiday in an active and fun environment with their peers and family.
“A huge vote of thanks must go to our sponsors – Spur Steak Ranches and Riverside Sports – as well as all the selfless volunteers from Riverside Hockey Club (RHC) for their contributions to making this the biggest and best mini hockey festival in South Africa,” stated Fields.
The branded hockey gear worn by the participating INK teams was generously donated by Apache Spur and the festival also marked the launch of this year’s Kit for KwaMashu Kids campaign. This initiative has been supported by Riverside Hockey Club (RHC) and its members for the past 10 years and a staggering amount of equipment and hockey gear was donated this year by participating teams and community members.
The final collection of shoes, shin pads, sticks and any other equipment in good condition will be handed over to Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu (INK) Hockey Club at the end of the season for their disadvantaged players to use.
