After hosting a successful Sports against Crime Tournament at Humansdorp Sport Field on February 24, the Sarah Baartman District Community Policing Forum (CPF), in collaboration with Employee Health and Wellness (EHW), and the Spiritual Crime Prevention Forum, plan to host the tournament as an annual event, to further uplift a community plagued by gangsterism.
As previously reported by Kouga Express, the aim of the tournament was to encourage young people in Humansdorp to stay away from crime and gang violence.
Chairperson of Sarah Baartman District CPF, Mieta Williams-Jan, said that with the increase of gang violence they began walking door-to-door to speak to children in the area to encourage them to stay away from gangsterism; however, they often found the children were rarely home.
She said they had to think of a new plan to bring young people together.
Since the Kouga region is well-known for its love for soccer, especially in the KwaNomzamo area, they decided to host an event titled Sports against Crime Tournament, with support from the Local Football Association, a first of its kind hosted in the Sarah Baartman District.
Williams-Jan said all eight soccer teams were present at the event with one objective in mind, to play the sport they love.
She further said that throughout the event the youth listened attentively and sang songs to add to the excitement of the day.
“The experience was overwhelming for the local organising committee,” said Williams-Jan.
She said that the community members also came out in numbers to support the youth.
Grateful that the soccer players from his club were able to participate in the tournament, the coach for St Francis Future Stars FC, Kobie Adams, thanked the organisers of the event.
He said that the players were very happy spending the day playing soccer.
“The event offered an opportunity for them to do something different, since many of the players had never participated in a soccer tournament before. The tournament also gave them the opportunity to watch other teams play,” said Adams.
Since the event was such a great success, Williams-Jan said they plan to host the tournament as an annual event.
She thanked all their supporters who contributed to the success of the event, the Local Football Organisation for their dedication, and for the assistance they received from Mongezi Khatshiwe and Andile Ngcingolo.
Williams-Jan further thanked the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for their support.
Lastly, she thanked the players who showed discipline and respect throughout the event.
“The event was about the players, and we want to continue encouraging them to respect others,” said Williams-Jan.
The winners of the tournament were first-place Mini Stars FC, crowned as the Team of the Tournament; City Pirates FC from Hankey were second and Happy People from Jeffreys Bay were third.
