It was a momentous occasion at the University of Fort Hare in Alice on Thursday when the first Momentum Friendship Games in the Border region was held in conjunction with Cricket South Africa and Border Cricket.
The Momentum Friendship Games is essentially an effort to up-skill CSA’s development Hubs and Regional Performance Centres (RPCs) by getting them to play against traditional cricket schools.
An exciting day of cricket featuring matches between the Standard Bank Alice Regional Performance Centre U15s and U19s and Selborne College – as well as a match between the Middledrift and Alice U13 girls teams were played, while a talent identification for a mini cricketers’ coaching clinic and coaching for the Alice U11 and U13 teams was also held.
After the Momentum Friendship Games was launched last year with just three games, of which one was in Port Elizabeth, it has expanded to Border for the first time.
“When we started this programme last year as a pilot project the reasons were two-fold. One was bringing communities from different backgrounds together and the other to drive our CSA strategy of exposing theses hub and RPC players to quality matches,” said CSA National Cricket Services manager Edward Khoza.
“Ultimately we want to produce future Proteas from the rural areas and it all starts as part of the building blocks that are put in place with days like today. “Coming down to the Eastern Cape is always great for us, this is a well-nourished area when it comes to cricket, it has always been well- supported, so we are happy to have brought these games to the Border region now.
“We are ecstatic about it because this is where the conveyor belt of black cricket lies, in the Border region under Border cricket and we are hoping that initiatives like this will instill the passion and the drive in kids to aspire more.”
Khoza also believes that the exposure these kids get from these games could also see them picked up by the established cricketing schools should they impress on the field.
“Today they are playing against Selborne and hopefully now some of them will strive to get bursaries to go to Selborne and associate with those schools and those are the initiatives that we drive,” said Khoza.
CSA head of Mass Participation David Makopanele was also in attendance and was really excited by what he saw.
Makopanele is in charge of the mini cricket, hubs and RPC's at CSA and was happy to see youngsters from the rural areas getting the chance to showcase their talents.
“This is a great opportunity for our youngsters to play against these top schools. It is an eye-opener for these players from the rural areas and it makes them dream bigger. You never know they might get a bursary to go to one of these top schools,” said Makopanele.
“So for us as Cricket South Africa we are very excited about this initiative and we are hoping for it to get bigger and bigger next year.
“Last year we only had three matches as it was a pilot programme and we were happy with what we saw, so we have extended it to nine games this year and hopefully next year we can get all the member regions to host at least one game which will take the number to 16 games.
“We are also impressed with the traditional schools. They have shown a lot of interest and have been requesting for us to host these matches, so we will be holding meetings with some of them next year to expand it to other schools and this is definitely going to be an annual thing going forward.”
The Fort Hare Cricket Academy officially opened its B field on the day.
The B field project was an initiative between CSA, the Fort Hare Cricket Academy and CSA consultant Greg Hayes, who pulled in the relevant support for the project.
A roller was also donated for the pitch which will be a massive help.
“It is going to be huge having this second field, it even has a synthetic wicket which will run 24/7 as it is low maintenance,” explained Hayes.
“There is a lack of facilities in the area so it is massive for us.
“The roller will also be put to great use here. It is a wonderful gesture from CSA and their partner Kemach JCB, who donated it and we are very grateful.”
Hayes was also impressed with the Momentum Games and was happy that it was held at Fort Hare.
“The Momentum Games is to just bring top teams into the rural areas to motivate cricket,” said Hayes.
“To see how the strength is and taking cricket out to the communities which they are doing all over South Africa.
“But then it doesn't just end there, because this team
Aiming high at Friendship Games
The Momentum Friendship Games is essentially an effort to up-skill CSA’s development Hubs and Regional Performance Centres (RPCs) by getting them to play against traditional cricket schools.
An exciting day of cricket featuring matches between the Standard Bank Alice Regional Performance Centre U15s and U19s and Selborne College – as well as a match between the Middledrift and Alice U13 girls teams were played, while a talent identification for a mini cricketers’ coaching clinic and coaching for the Alice U11 and U13 teams was also held.
After the Momentum Friendship Games was launched last year with just three games, of which one was in Port Elizabeth, it has expanded to Border for the first time.
“When we started this programme last year as a pilot project the reasons were two-fold. One was bringing communities from different backgrounds together and the other to drive our CSA strategy of exposing theses hub and RPC players to quality matches,” said CSA National Cricket Services manager Edward Khoza.
“Ultimately we want to produce future Proteas from the rural areas and it all starts as part of the building blocks that are put in place with days like today. “Coming down to the Eastern Cape is always great for us, this is a well-nourished area when it comes to cricket, it has always been well- supported, so we are happy to have brought these games to the Border region now.
“We are ecstatic about it because this is where the conveyor belt of black cricket lies, in the Border region under Border cricket and we are hoping that initiatives like this will instill the passion and the drive in kids to aspire more.”
Khoza also believes that the exposure these kids get from these games could also see them picked up by the established cricketing schools should they impress on the field.
“Today they are playing against Selborne and hopefully now some of them will strive to get bursaries to go to Selborne and associate with those schools and those are the initiatives that we drive,” said Khoza.
CSA head of Mass Participation David Makopanele was also in attendance and was really excited by what he saw.
Makopanele is in charge of the mini cricket, hubs and RPC's at CSA and was happy to see youngsters from the rural areas getting the chance to showcase their talents.
“This is a great opportunity for our youngsters to play against these top schools. It is an eye-opener for these players from the rural areas and it makes them dream bigger. You never know they might get a bursary to go to one of these top schools,” said Makopanele.
“So for us as Cricket South Africa we are very excited about this initiative and we are hoping for it to get bigger and bigger next year.
“Last year we only had three matches as it was a pilot programme and we were happy with what we saw, so we have extended it to nine games this year and hopefully next year we can get all the member regions to host at least one game which will take the number to 16 games.
“We are also impressed with the traditional schools. They have shown a lot of interest and have been requesting for us to host these matches, so we will be holding meetings with some of them next year to expand it to other schools and this is definitely going to be an annual thing going forward.”
The Fort Hare Cricket Academy officially opened its B field on the day.
The B field project was an initiative between CSA, the Fort Hare Cricket Academy and CSA consultant Greg Hayes, who pulled in the relevant support for the project.
A roller was also donated for the pitch which will be a massive help.
“It is going to be huge having this second field, it even has a synthetic wicket which will run 24/7 as it is low maintenance,” explained Hayes.
“There is a lack of facilities in the area so it is massive for us.
“The roller will also be put to great use here. It is a wonderful gesture from CSA and their partner Kemach JCB, who donated it and we are very grateful.”
Hayes was also impressed with the Momentum Games and was happy that it was held at Fort Hare.
“The Momentum Games is to just bring top teams into the rural areas to motivate cricket,” said Hayes.
“To see how the strength is and taking cricket out to the communities which they are doing all over South Africa.
“But then it doesn't just end there, because this team
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