Marching bands and dusty fields

Sorry for the lack of posting for a day or two, Internet access has been very intermittent.

After the very successful Sport Heroes Walk stop at Tzaneen, Polokwane followed in much the same vein, even though the coaching clinic was a bit smaller. However, and fittingly so, the Sport Heroes had what was surely the equivalent of a ticker tape parade through the mains street of the city, complete with brass band. At the end of the parade, which took the Heroes to the sports ground next to the newly completed Peter Mokaba Stadium, every passer-by knew that the Heroes were in town.

The following day the Sport Heroes and their entourage started the long trek into the rural areas around Mogwadi (Dendron), Vivo, and Alldays. The Mogwadi stop had, for the first time on the Walk, a rural feel to it. The Heroes’ welcoming was very low-key, and the field where the coaching clinic took place was grassless and dusty, without any seating facilities, no toilets, nothing. Fortunately quite a number of children arrived for the clinic, and the lack of good facilities didn’t dampen their enjoyment.

Show us your stuff.... trying to qualify for a soccer ball.

Because each stopover now attracts more kids than there are SRSA soccer balls to hand out, elimination competitions are held in cricket, football and athletics (there are normally few enough boxers among them). It has added an extra element of excitement to the clinics, and it’s satisfying to see everyone doing their utmost to qualify for a soccer ball, and watch the joy when they receive it. Normally more than 75% of kids receive a ball this way.

Unfortunately it was yet another municipality where SRSA couldn’t be sure that the sports equipment earmarked for handover would be distributed transparently and equitably. Squabbling among municpal and sport club officials resulted in SRSa unceremoniously packing up the boxes with equipment into the vans. It’ll be handed over to the provincial sports authorities, who must first ensure that the local authorities are able to apply the equipment for the community’s benefit before handing it over.

Due to changes in arrangements the next stopover, Alldays, have been moved to a village only about 10km from where the Mogwadi clinics were held. This adds a long distance to the Heroes’ travel plan, and much negotiating and persuasion took place before this change in plans was accepted.

From there it’s a long, very long drive to Musina, the fourth last stop on the Heroes Walk.

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