First Township Olympics conclude in Soweto

The first Township Olympics concluded this past weekend at the Dobsonville Stadium after a long two day spectacular sporting showdown.

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The event which took place on November 19 hosted hundreds of youngsters from six townships in the province who participated across an array of sporting codes in track and field events and team sports such as netball and soccer.

The event is the brainchild of Soweto Parliament in partnership with Shosholoza Finance and the City of Joburg, in particular the office of the Speaker Cllr. Colleen Makhubele was initiated with the purpose of reviving sports in the township.

“Our young people are idling so much that they get affected by these social ills. Part of the programme was to try to combat that and change their mind-sets and improve their sporting development seeing that it is dead,” said Nana Nonkelela, Secretary General, Soweto Parliament.

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The Township Olympics evolved from the Soweto Olympics which comprised of all 44 wards in Soweto to compete towards a 1 million rand worth of sporting infrastructure improvements which held its qualifiers in October and its finals a day before the township Olympics.

According to Nonkelela, the township Olympics were more of an individual sport where the participants would walk away with prize money.

“We developed a concert of a township Olympics because we have other parliament structures in other townships like Alexandra, Thembisa and Mogale City.

“We decided to introduce township Olympics, so that when we move forward with the Olympics concert in our townships, we are on the same level,” she explained.

The Free State and North West provinces were also amongst the participants on the day.

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