Cindy Hoffmann and Morne and Stella Goosen have big plans after taking over Maverick Sports Club.
The trio are focusing on sports development and already have various soccer and cricket teams using the club grounds. The club, which was formerly just a seniors cricket club has now brought in juniors to fill the gap between club and school sports.
“This was a huge club previously, but it has never had junior teams. Our son plays junior cricket, but the coaches at school do not always have enough time to give young players the individual attention they need.
An hour or so is not enough time to look at a player’s technique and help him/ her to improve his/ her skills,” said Stella.
The trio took over Maverick earlier this year, and are in the midst of improving the sports grounds one step at a time. Stella, who has always been involved in sport, has vast experience in coaching, having coached both the UJ U/13 hockey team and the Western Wolves U/10 cricket team. The latter team won a silver medal in the Inter-Provincial Tournament. She now coaches the Mavericks U/8 cricket team. Morne is in charge of coaching the cricket teams, while Cindy is involved with catering.
“We started with one junior cricket team and now we have five. The players’ ages range from four to 13 years. The fathers of the players have also started two veterans teams and registered in the Gauteng Cricket Boards (GCB) league,” said Stella.
The club has also opened up its grounds and invited various soccer clubs who have been training in unsafe conditions at an open park next to the club to make use of its facilities.
“We wanted to help them train in a safe environment, so we offered them our training grounds to use. The clubs have training schedules so practice sessions go smoothly
The club has also helped open a pre-school on its premises where the children are taught computer literacy and healthy living.
“The CBD is not the safest place for children, but we take care of more than 60 children, offering them a balanced diet and a safe place to be happy and taken care of,” said Stella.
The club is busiest during weekends, when various cricket and soccer matches are hosted. It also hosts Last Man Standing cricket matches in which players of all ages participate.
The trio’s goal is to see Maverick host Varsity Cup cricket matches, thus bringing cricket to the Roodepoort community.
“We want our community to see the top cricket stars playing in our backyard, because many cannot afford to go to Wanderers Cricket Stadium. We also want to help young talent in the community and give them quality coaching for them to develop into great players,” added Stella.
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