The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture hosted Winter Games for various sporting codes at different venues in the city on Saturday with the aim to select provincial teams that would represent Limpopo at the National School Sport Championships scheduled for Kwazulu-Natal from 29 June to 5 July,.
The games are a culmination of matches played from schools to circuit, cluster and district levels respectively. The prioritised sporting codes include soccer, netball, rugby, volleyball, hockey, tennis, chess, jukskei and khokho. The official opening of the Winter Games was held at Capricorn High School sport fields and addressed by Sport, Arts and Culture MEC Thandi Moraka, who put emphasis on a need to build a cohesive society that works toward the wellbeing of all its members.
She said socially cohesive programmes will ensure that opportunistic infections and affections are lessened including the combating of crime through active participation in sport. “We at provincial sphere of governance have to finalise a Memorandum of Understanding with the MEC of Education Polly Boshielo to access the talent that is there in schools and channel it in to socially cohesive programmes. My unceasing clarion call will always be that we must have facilities in school premises and at least a high performance center for the province,” Moraka explained.
Moraka stated that they were aware of the distressing statistics on unemployment and in due course government will provide material ways of creating sustainable jobs and alleviating poverty. She added that they were deliberate in their efforts to fight crime and reclaim the communities. She reiterated that they are also hell-bent on fighting other social ills ravaging communities and eroding the moral fibre through programmes such as the Winter Games. Moraka urged those who are selected to represent the province on the national stage to do so with pride and bring home gold medals. It was learnt that provincial teams in all the sporting codes have been selected and would commence with preparations soon.
Story and photos: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za
