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Big boost for school sports

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South African school sports will never be the same again.

Schools football for both boys and girls from primary to secondary level has received a major financial injection from the Motsepe Foundation. Netball has also not been left out and will also be catered for in a whopping total sponsorship of R150 million.

The five-year sponsorship was unveiled in Johannesburg on Thursday.

The big financial injection is seen as a way of reviving school sports countrywide.

Unlike in the past, the new sponsorship will also cater for football and netball from the foundation phase up until Grade 12.

The two big sports federations in the country have embraced the new initiative.

There will also be a school choral and national music tournament for children who can’t participate in physical sporting activities.

This will be done in conjunction with the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Sport and Recreation.

The big announcement was made by the chief executive of the Motsepe Foundation, Dr Precious Motsepe-Moloi.

“The Motsepe Foundation has donated R150 million for the development and growth of schools football for boys and girls at secondary and primary schools, and also for the promotion of schools African choral music and indigenous music, and for schools’ netball.”

The main focus will be on previously disadvantaged areas that lack the necessary infrastructure.

This will mainly be in rural areas and black townships.

Chairman of the Motsepe Foundation Patrice Motsepe: “Netball is one of the most popular sports in South Africa and hopes that it becomes an Olympic sport in the near future. The aim is to make players to make a living out of netball just like in football. We need to start by paying them well.”

The South African Football Association says the sponsorship will help enhance women’s football in the country, as they bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027.

Currently, there are almost 470 000 female footballers in South Africa, and the aim is to increase that number to at least a million by 2030.

Announcement of the sponsorship:

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