Among the greatest lessons is to teach the youth to appreciate shared assets.
Kept alive on a shoestring budget by the clubs calling the old sports facility home, Voortrekker Park is a resource bursting with potential.
Once a hub for school and social sport, a handful of organisations are taking it upon themselves to bring back the shine of the glory days. Roodepoort Sports Academy enlisted the services of learners and staff from AS Patel Primary School who did what they could to remove the trash dotting the old hub.
The school marched from their Hodgson Street premises to Exner Street where they lined up single file to receive their plastic bags and gloves. From the tennis courts, they combed the littered verges before focusing on the soccer fields nearest Hinda Street. In their refuse bags filled to the brim, the children removed as much as they could of the broken alcohol bottles, food packaging and illegally dumped household waste.
Founder of the private school Abdul-Suleiman Patel spoke on the importance of imparting socially responsible knowledge to young minds.
“We want to teach kids that whatever they use, they must give it back in the same condition or better. We want to uplift the whole community but we are also needing the municipality to realise the importance of these facilities,” said Patel.
The sports grounds have and can still play an important role in youth development with multiple schools in the Roodepoort CBD lining up to utilise the fields.
AS Patel Primary’s principal Lameck Jere reiterated the sentiment, saying, “Let’s keep the environment clean because a place like this can keep children off the street and in sports. Good health comes from a good environment. You can not thrive if you are dirty.”
