FORMER Bafana Bafana captain Lucas Radebe and Orlando Pirates legend Teboho Moloi believe reviving the School Sports is the key.
The two soccer legends were among the people who attended the School Sports Indaba at the Birchwood Hotel & Conference Centre in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni.
The two-day indaba under the theme, “Towards an integrated and united school sports programme”, started on Thursday, 14 September.
“This kind of initiative is long overdue, but it’s encouraging to see Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa, who spearheaded the importance of grassroots sports, and the access to proper facilities that help develop young girls at a young age,” Radebe said.
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Moloi said it’s important for soccer legends and teachers responsible for sport at their schools to work together.
“The legends who will be part of an initiative to train the young children need to be equipped to help the teachers with various methods of training the youth,” he said.
“PSL teams should adopt the schools to nurture talents from up-and-coming soccer players. This will help see the players' progress, and we will be able to produce future stars.”
Kodwa said South Africa’s sports sector has failed pupils.
“We need to spell out how school sport is supposed to work, why it will work, and the conditions required for its successful implementation. As sports stakeholders, we have failed learners and young people at and out of school, and we need a theory of change,” said the minister.
He said their task as partners in this School Sports Indaba should be to review and assess the school sports programme and map a way forward on the requisite policy directives.
“There is a need to invest in the development of local expertise through the running of sports academies from foundation phase,” added Kodwa.
