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Lindiwe Wins International Award to Get Girls Moving

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Her passion to transform the lives of girls from Nelson Mandela Bay has resulted in a young South African woman winning an international competition, which is co-sponsored by Nike.

United Through Sport co-ordinator Lindiwe Cezula was announced as one of the winners of the ‘Gurls Talk Made to Play Fund Competition, Women Win’ in partnership with Nike.

The competition was open to young women under the age of 25 years, whose organisations are based in Ghana, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Turkey, United Kingdom, Italy, France and South Africa.

The purpose of the ‘Women Win’ competition is to support inspirational young women from across the world, to encourage the next generation of girls to get active.

Part of the winning package includes grant funding, activewear and a spot in Women Win’s Leadership Development Programme – which will include a trip to Paris, France, in June this year.

“It has always been my passion to create a safe space for us girls to just talk and share all our experiences on the expectations that society has of us. I would like to see the day where the girls own their bodies, the colour of their skin and most importantly, for them to know that they have the body, the mind and the courage; and that they are in charge of it all,” said Cezula.

She plans to utilise the Gurls Talk Made to Play Fund grant to develop a dance programme for United Through Sport’s girls’ empowerment programme, GirlsUnite. The purpose of the dance programme will be to get the girls moving through physical activity, while teaching critical life-skills lessons to boost their confidence, resilience and levels of self-actualisation.  

Cezula graduated with her BA degree, majoring in Political Science and Public Administration, from Nelson Mandela University in April this year.

In primary school her netball talents were spotted by United Through Sport Director Nick Mould on a dusty sport field in Zwide. Cezula attended Pearson High School from 2011 – 2014 as part of United Through Sport’s Senior School of Excellence, and in her Matric year received a special award for Perseverance.

“We are extremely proud of Lindiwe. She came into our programme when she was just 11 years old, and to see her grasp the opportunities that have come her way and then complete the circle by giving back to the next generation is hugely inspirational.  She encompasses the vision of United Through Sport and is a true example of the potential that exists within the youth of our society if they are just given the right support,” said Mould.

Lindiwe is employed as the Youth1st Network Co-ordinator on a full-time basis at United Through Sport in Port Elizabeth and plans to pursue further studies by doing an Honours degree in Public Administration.

United Through Sport Builds Second Sport Court in South Africa

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Leaving a legacy by building a place where children can continue to play sport for years to come, was celebrated recently by United Through Sport South Africa.

The United Through Sport Multi-Sport Court is an initiative of UTS South Africa supported by The Swartkops Terminal PTY (Ltd). Having eagerly watched the building process over the last few months; Children from Isaac Booi Primary School and the surrounding community will now have their first opportunity to play netball, basketball and tennis on the facility. 

Isaac Booi is an anchor school of United Through Sport’s Junior School of Excellence (JSE) Programme, which is based in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa. The programme nurtures participants with ability and determination to give them access to extra academic education, sports coaching and personal development at after-school classes.

“Making a sustainable difference in the communities where United Through Sport works, is a core priority and we believe this Multi-Sport Court will continue to offer children a safe place to play sport – for years to come as a legacy project. The court not only benefits our programmes we run at the school, but it is also there for the enjoyment and benefit of all the learners at the school as well as the local community,” said United Through Sport Director Nick Mould.

To continue to develop the Junior School of Excellence children to the highest level and give them an opportunity to rise above their challenges, they need to have access to quality facilities such as the Isaac Booi Court to enable them to compete with their counterparts.

“I would like to thank United Through Sport for their initiative in child development. Their team does an amazing job. I am very proud of The Swartkops Terminal for its involvement in this project, that benefits children on a personal level which is carried through to adulthood. The fact that this project will develop children for years to come make it so much more rewarding,” said The Swartkops Terminal PTY (Ltd) Terminal Manager Colin Wilken.

Isaac Booi Principal Mr Ludwe Memese said the entire school looked forward to the opening of the court. “We are the first, if not the only school with such a facility in the township. This would help to market the school to the neighbouring schools. It will enable the learners not only to be keen in partaking in the sports they are familiar with, but also learn to play tennis which is a rare sporting code in our communities,” Memese said.

A parallel JSE Programme is run at Astra Primary School, where a Multi-Purpose AstroTurf, used for hockey and soccer training, was also built by United Through Sport– with the help of various funders. The Multi-Purpose Astro Turf court was launched in 2016.

United Through Sport is currently fundraising for a third Multi-Purpose Court for training activities. Read more about our latest project here: https://www.givengain.com/cause/3881/campaigns/18276/

Bridgwater College Sports Tournament

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On the 31 March 2011, the New Brighton Oval hosted the Bridgwater United Through Sport South Africa Tournament organized and run by Bridgwater College.

Bridgwater College from the UK sent 40 of their Sports HMS students to South Africa. In conjunction with United Through Sport SA, they organised the sports tournament as a final event for their two week stay. The tournament consisted of 6 of the local previously disadvantaged schools in New Brighton and Zwide in Port Elizabeth.

Each school sent an U12 and U13 team for Rugby, Soccer, Hockey and Netball. The schools included Charles Duna, Molefe, Inkqubela, Ben Nyathi, Issac Booi and Emzomncane Primary Schools. On the day of the event there were many more than the estimated 480 children present and the students from both United Through Sport SA and Bridgwater were present. The sports teams were treated to an extremely well organized and fun tournament. Regardless of the light rain, both pupils and students had a lot of fun and each team played their best to win their games.

Overall Winners:
Rugby: U12: Issac Booi and U13: Inkqubela
Soccer: U12: Inkqubela and U13: Molefe
Netball: U12: Charles Duna and U13: Issac Booi
Hockey: U12: Charles Duna and U13: Ben Nyathi

On behalf of United Through Sport South Africa and the schools involved, we would just like to thank Bridgwater College for being so amazing and for hosting such a wonderful and successful tournament. The students brought so much joy to all the children involved and definitely made an impact on the youth at United Through Sport and all the organizations they visited. Thank you!

School of Excellence Girls Win Tournament

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United Through Sport South Africa was invited by Imbewu South Africa to take part in a World AIDS Day Knock-Out Tournament, which was held at the Dan Qeqe Stadium in Zwide on the 1st December. The tournament had netball, tennis, basketball and 5-a-side soccer games for U/13s and U/16s.

We had our U/16 netball girls and soccer boys playing in this tournament. There were three U/16 netball teams involved on the day, as well as 4 four U/16 soccer teams from other local schools. Our boys played well but unfortunately got knocked out and did not make the final. They played 3 games and with only one win, they lost the other two matches. The girls, on the other hand, played a total of 3 matches, made it through the finals and were the day’s winners! Having the floating trophy and their medals, the girls felt very proud to be United Through Sport SA girls!

This was a great way of ending the year for the kids, on a high spirit of working together as a team and we are happy that Imbewu SA invited us to take part in this tournament and to raise awareness about this deadly disease.