SANTOS ENGAGE WITH
YOUNG FOOTBALLERS AT THE ABSA SPACES FOR
SPORT CENTRE IN GANSBAAI
Local
Cape Town outfit Santos took time out of their busy schedule to pay a visit to
the Absa Spaces for Sport Centre in Gansbaai to partake in a coaching clinic
with local youngsters from the surrounding communities.
Players
from the Absa Premiership club spent time participating in a coaching session
where the young footballers got an opportunity to hone their skills through
various technical and tactical drills while also having the chance to interact
with some of their heroes, who they only ever seen in magazines and on
television.
Gansbaai,
located in the heart of the Cape Floral Heritage, is a fishing village
comprising of three communities that were historically segregated along racial
and social borders. The community faced many challenges one of which was a lack
of sporting facilities.
In
2006, Barclays proposed to develop land in Gansbaai under the auspices of the
Barclays Spaces for Sport umbrella as part of the Absa/Barclays Corporate
Social Investment initiative. The Gansbaai Sport Centre was establisted in
collaboration with the Football Foundation SA, Overstrand Municipality, Western
Cape department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Absa and Barclays.
The
centre officially opened doors in 2008 becoming the first Barclays Spaces for
Sports site to open outside the UK. The centre provides the community with a
facility that allows for quality sports facilities, across a multitude of
sporting codes, while simultaneously encouraging social integration, creating
employment opportunities, through coaching, and honing sporting talent and providing a
venue for youth development and basic life skills.
The
Absa Spaces for Sport facility continues to grow in popularity, with a variety
of activities taking place. For example, the Provincial Government of the Western
Cape hosted a girls football tournament
involving 160 young girls from 8 schools during 2011. The SA Boland Rugby Union
utilized the facility to conduct regional trials for their u/16 and u/18 sides
and SAFA have hosted the Absa Women’s League regional final.
The
centre has enjoyed international recognition with the likes of American Olympic
sprinter Michael Johnson, South African Paralympics Champion Oscar Pistorius,
former Bafana defender Lucas Radebe and prominent activist Vanessa Haywood all
visiting the facility as part of a Barclays summit, Beyond Sport.
“Absa
are proud to be associated with a facility that has seen three communities
integrate under the banner of sport and recreation,” says Steward Masela Absa
Sponsorship Manager.
“The
people of Gansbaai have found a home where youngsters can have an opportunity
to engage with each other across sporting platforms. The lessons that are
learned at this level, at these ages, are lessons that will last a lifetime.
The facility will give these young people a platform from which they can
develop as they grow older and make a meaningful contribution to society,”
Masela concluded.
There
is no doubt that the Absa Spaces for Sport Centre in Gansbaai has made a vital
contribution in the development of the community.
