Sport Court teamed with Beyond Sport and The Sports Trust to build a state-of-the-art Sport Court® game court at the Atamelang Primary School in Soweto.
Through the Sport Court Courts for Communities program, the school now has a multi-functional sports facility for girls and boys to play and learn the values taught by sport. The Sport Court® outdoor court was designed specifically with the schools physical education curriculum in mind and can be used for futsal (five-a-side soccer), netball, basketball, volleyball and tennis.
“It was thrilling to watch the kids faces light up when the stepped onto the court today,” said Brandi Bloodworth Connolly, Sr. Director at Connor Sport Court International. “At Sport Court our mission is to provide children all around the world a safe place to play, a place that allows them to learn the values taught by sport. We are thrilled that through our Courts for Communities program we could partner with Beyond Sport and The Sport Trust to provide the Soweto community with a colorful Sport Court® multi-sport court.”
As part of an ongoing legacy, this is the third court of its kind that Beyond Sport has created in partnership with Sport Court and the 30th court that the Sports Trust has built in partnership with Sport Court.
“Providing children with the right to play in safe spaces around the world is so important, and is something that we at Beyond Sport constantly strive to achieve through our work with local communities,” said Nick Keller, Founder, Beyond Sport. “It gives us great pleasure to be able to provide the young people of Soweto with this incredible sports facility, which, when combined with inspiring coaches and mentors, will be the hub of education and development for all things sport in this community.”
It is the goal of Sports Trusts to gain funding to build a court at every school in South Africa, although this is a lofty goal, it is one that if obtained can truly change a generation of disadvantaged youth.
“It is our mandate to increase and create opportunities for all disadvantaged South Africans to participate in sport through the provision of kit, equipment and facilities. It gives us great pleasure to work with Beyond Sport and Connor Sport Court International in implementing this Sport Court® multipurpose court for the local schools in Soweto, so that we can continue to enhance education through sport.” Said Max Jordaan, Deputy Chairman, The Sports Trust
Sport Court’s Courts for Communities team is thrilled that the Atamelang Primary School will provide the school’s pupils and children from five other schools in the local community with the opportunity to train on a safe, elite-level sports surface. We look forward to continuing our work with The Sports Trust and Beyond Sport to bring safe places to play to more individuals.
For more information on how you can help build courts for South African youth visit: http://www.thesportstrust.co.za
To learn more about how to get involved in the Sport for Social Change movement visit: www.beyondsport.org