Mdantsane looks to grow sport

A bold initiative is under way in Mdantsane as Eagles Baseball Club tries to establish a link between schools in the area to help grow the sport.

A festival was held at NU17 yesterday to commemorate Youth Day, with eight schools in attendance, of which boys and girls both played baseball.

Only two baseball clubs are in Mdantsane – Eagles from NU17 and Barbarians from NU13.

When the two want to play against other teams they have to travel to play against a few other clubs in Zwelitsha.

“What we are hoping is that by getting the schools involved we want them to link up and becoming clubs of their own, so that we can get a league system going,” said Eagles Baseball club President Billie Magengele-le.

“We would then like the club sides to also play against them as the players who play for the clubs are all young, so they would be able to play each other.”

Over 100 kids took part in yesterday’s festival, and all players walked away with some accolade.

“We have trophies here for the best player from each school, we have a trophy for the boys’ winner and the girls’ winner and we have certificates for every player that takes part,”said Magengelele, who is also the general secretary of the Mdantsane Sports Council.

The kids received kit and equipment to use and they were cheered on by other schools, while teachers from the various schools were in attendance.

The tournament started at 10am yesterday and continued until around 2pm.