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Sport is said to be very beneficial for growing children’s health. Besides getting them off streets, it improves coordination, balance and cardiovascular fitness. Children engage in bad activities because they have too much time on their hands after getting back from school.
Khensani Sigudu, a young woman from Eden Park has taken the initiative to clean the streets by starting a netball team for young girls in her community. She started the team in September of this year when lockdown regulations eased. What sparked the idea of starting the team were two young girls who came to her asking that she teach them how to play netball. Sigudu then told more children about the team and they started joining.
The team consists of young girls between the ages of six and upwards, and most are teenagers. They practice in an open space nearby everyday between Monday and Friday from 16:00 until 18:00.
“Netball is my favorite sport. I grew up playing but had to stop due to knee injury,” Siguda said.
She goes on to say that dealing with teenagers is not easy, hence they always start and end practice with catching up on what is going on in their personal lives. And if someone breaks the rules, Sigudu reprimands them by not letting them practice for a week.
Other challenges Sigudu is facing is lack the of support from the parents. Sometimes she uses her savings to buy the children’s uniforms. Like two months after the netball team was created, she approached the counsellor asking if he can build recreational fields in the community. But she still has not received a response.
Sigudu is still hopeful, and believes that this is the start of good things. She believes that some of her children in the team will play for big teams someday.
This article was submitted on 20 November 2020. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
