Fostering underprivileged children’s holistic growth and development by nurturing their passion for sport is what the recently-established Leading Light Academy sets out to achieve.
The non-profit is driven to uplift youths from adverse backgrounds through sports engagement involving various programmes, including workshops and clinics.
“The ultimate goal is to transform youngsters into well-rounded young adults, especially in disadvantaged parts of our communities,” explained Francois Siljeur, the academy’s activities coordinator. “Our youth need guidance, support and their energy needs to be channelled positively to build healthy communities and a better future.”
Siljeur is part of the trio behind the academy’s establishment, inspired by their collective passion for sports and first-hand experience of its significantly positive effects. As a testament to this, Siljeur mentioned that the academy’s coach, Jan Pretorius, is a former South African weightlifting champion who now operates a gym from his home in Gordon’s Bay. There he trains and develops young athletes, boosting their confidence. Siljeur also highlighted that since his son, Mac, started training with Pretorius three years ago he had become an excellent discus and shotput athlete and a strong forward player for his school. Fellow coach Neil Daniels had developed talents such as Gino Cupido, a rising star from the Sir Lowry’s Pass community and a Western Province u-21 asset. Together, the academy’s coaching duo, Pretorius and Daniels, have been successfully honing rugby and athletics talent for several years.
Their physical involvement includes sports training programmes to unlock youngsters’ potential and promote holistic growth through skills development. These programmes and mobile clinics for ages 11 and up offer strength and conditioning coaching for rugby and athletics, focusing on fitness, power, agility, diet, and injury prevention. Life skills development includes self-awareness, teamwork, social awareness, effective listening, managing emotions, and motivational talks.
The academy aims to build a database to track athletes’ progress and follow up with their coaches. Despite their qualifications, coaches regularly attend workshops to stay updated on the latest sports trends and methodologies.
Pretorius and Daniels’ programmes and coaching skills were showcased during a successful rugby clinic hosted at Sir Lowry’s Pass Primary School on Friday 25 October. The academy worked alongside the school’s rugby coordinator, Leclue Visser, who selected around 20 under-11 and under-13 rugby players to benefit from the opportunity. Basic rugby skills training, made possible through valued sponsorships by Peninsula Beverages, NTS Tracking, The Brand Company, and Fusion Plumbing Services, was the focus of the morning programme. Avid players enjoyed the camaraderie while engaging in a dynamic warm-up and learning about passing and handling under pressure, keeping the ball alive in contact, ruck/ball placement, communication into contact, bounce and reload from tackle, and defence as units.
The academy hopes to monitor the teams’ progress with follow-up sessions and assist the school with talent identification.
“We want to reach out to more local schools, especially where there is a lack of rugby, athletics, and life skills coaching. We currently contact schools where we see a need, but we urge more schools to contact us,” implored Siljeur.
Leading Light Academy is working toward obtaining a facility to operate from, instead of relying on the generosity of local schools that offer their premises for use. The academy is calling on the community not only to support their cause but also to assist with donations to acquire equipment.
“Our dream is to have a multi-purpose centre where we can cultivate the next generation of rugby World Cup winners and Olympic medallists, coupled with life skills that set them up to be good South African citizens. This is our dream, which we are taking small strides toward.”
For more information, contact Siljeur on 083 220 9081.
