A number of primary schools participated in the Johannesburg North KFC Mini Cricket festival on 5 March.
The yearly cricket festival was held at Rosebank Primary School. Coordinator for the Johannesburg North KFC Mini Cricket, Frank Zagwazatha said the season starts in September and ends in March. “Prior to the festival, we play every Thursday afternoon starting at 2pm and we sometimes play one or two games depending on the time. KFC Mini Cricket is more about participation – we’re introducing the game to the children so we don’t actually focus on the results or compete, but we want them to take part and have fun. In the long run, by having fun they’re actually learning at the same time,” Zagwazatha said.
He said among the 12 primary schools participating are Saxonwold, Parkview, Craighall, Delta Park, Emmarentia, Japari, Rosebank, Radford House and Parkhurst.
Zagwazatha said Grade 1s and 2s were participating on the day, “When they get to U9 there’s hardball cricket, that is the bridging gap with tail horse cricket which is for 11-year-olds.”
Central Gauteng Lions KFC Mini Cricket coordinator Gary Moos said there is a build-up towards the festival. “They first play the internal league where two schools play against each other, then they come together to do a big festival. The main aim is that they showcase their talent and what they’ve been doing behind the scenes. From a Central Lions point of view, we attend these festivals so that we can see their talent,” Moos said.
He added that this was a volunteer programme; “The educators are the most important people because they do it for the love of it and don’t get paid for it. They want to see these youngsters move up to the next level.”
Moos said KFC sponsored the programme hence the branding on the T-shirts and the food outlet only gave the children snacks, not takeaways, to keep them going. He proceeded that they were trying to encourage parent involvement and some of them help with coaching at their respective schools. So, the programme is not just for the teacher volunteers, parents can also take part to assist.
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