In light of women’s month, Telkom handed over a netball court to the netball team at MH Baloyi Secondary School in Winterveld on the 18th of August.The handover follows the Telkom Netball Celebrity Face-off event which took place back in June, where the telecommunications company gathered Mzansi’s favourite stars for a netball challenge.
The teams were led by radio and TV personality, Khutso Theledi and social media sensation, Lasizwe Dambuza.The duo captioned the teams joined by their celebrity friends,Netball MVP’S,Netball protea legends ,soccer stars and fellow Telkom brand influencers partners. The main aim of the challenge was to connect young people of South Africa with their favourite celebrities through sports
MH Baloyi Secondary School was chosen by the winning team (led by Khutso Theledi), the Telkom Foundation, Department of Education and Netball South Africa. According to the Principal of the school, the kids are very active in Netball and they are looking forward to playing on the new court. “Since 2017 Telkom has been supporting us by making sure that learners in this school are performing well. Over the years ,Telkom has looked after the pupils minds but they are now also making sure that they look after their bodies.” added Ms Motladi Matila ,Chief Education Specialist from the Department of Education.
Tournaments such as the The Netball League are a stepping stone for young girls as they will get an opportunity to showcase their skills so that they can be identified and scouted. Cecilia Molokwane, Netball South Africa President said she would love to see one of MH Baloyi Secondary School netball players, playing for Netball SA one day. “If we are are to make the sport fashionable we will need to make sure that that we forge partnerships with other stake holders such as the ones we are seeing today,”added Molokwane.
Every year throughout the month of August,South Africa celebrates women. For many years netball has been predominantly played by women but things are about to change. During the event, Telkom Foundation and Netball SA representatives encouraged the male pupils at MH Baloyi Secondary School to start a netball team.”Netball is a unisex sport and we would like to see more boys playing the sport” said Sarah from Telkom Foundation.
The Metro FM radio presenter said she also supports the idea of having men playing on the netball courts. “Ive been longing for a conversation like this, where we encourage young boys to play the sport.In team Khutso we had four guys playing in the team.Men give a different flair to the game.” concluded Khutso.
