Editor – It’s with a sad note that I write about a sensitive topic: What’s become of sport in Ladysmith.
Sport, which is a method to keep people fit and healthy and a way to keep our youth away from drugs and misbehaviour, is sadly being robbed from them.
Leagues that play every week – volleyball, badminton and indoor soccer, to name a few – are slowly but surely fading away.
If it’s not the municipality hiring the sports complex for everything else but sport, then we hear of teams not wanting to participate because of organisations running various codes.
Now tell me, is this acceptable for our lovely municipality? You are not just unfair to the organisations, but you are depriving the youth of sports and allowing them to drift towards drugs and alcohol.
A town like Ladysmith, where there is no entertainment, has only sports to participate in. So people look forward to leagues – whether it’s soccer, volleyball or cricket – but these are no longer being played.
Families generally look forward to supporting their local players and teams, allowing them a social night/day to mingle.
One has to ask the question: Are people not interested in playing sport or are the organisations and municipality killing sports in town? I find it very hard to believe that people are not interested, because I recall clearly the numerous individuals who represented Ladysmith in various codes of sport, some of them even achieving district and provincial colours.
Let’s keep our flag flying when it comes to sports; we have the very best in town.
