We are very grateful to Sports Trader for their hard work in sourcing tracksuits and other sports kit for the pupils of Ukhanyo School. The full story was recently published on the Sports Trader web site and is reproduced here.

Sports Trader was humbled and very impressed with the offers of help from industry members when we told them how sport and educations was being used to bring hope to the youngsters in the impoverished Masiphumelele township

Many companies in the sport and outdoor retail industry already invest substantially in CSI projects, but when we heard the inspiring story of the work being done by coach Nceba Jonas and the Masicorp Trust in the impoverished Masiphumelele community (between Kommetjie and Fish Hoek near Cape Town) we took the liberty of asking them to assist with much-needed tracksuits.
We were very grateful and impressed by the many, many offers of assistance we received — especially from Kappa SA, ASICS SA and retailer American Clothing, who were first off the mark to generously offer free donations of tracksuits for community netball teams and their coaches.
Springbok suppliers ASICS SA did not hesitate to respond to our request: “We will certainly see how we can assist and support,” said marketing manager Sarah Mundy. “We do already support other causes, however, given the nature of your request, we will see how we can assist.”
While they did not have complete tracksuits available, Wesley Tam, Core Performance Sports Marketing Executive, supplied hooded tops and tracksuit pants for the coaches.
“As a brand, Kappa SA believes in helping to grow the community of South Africa,” says Ricky Joseph, who donated 14 tracksuits for one netball team. “A project such as this is something that we feel extremely touched by. While kids may have the most amazing skills and attributes, sometimes to look and feel good is as important. We believe that by donating these tracksuits to these athletes we will give them an added ability on and off the field. We want to uplift as many disadvantaged communities as possible and enable even those less fortunate in our country to be able to look and feel the best while competing.”
Kamlesh Chagan, owner of the American Clothing stores in Cape Town, believes in supporting the Southern Peninsula communities that have been supporting his family’s business for the past 50 years, after his father opened their first store in Retreat. “I believe in giving back to organisations that support the communities in the areas where I grew up, who provided our family with an income,” he says.
They receive requests for donations on almost a daily basis and he has become wary of everybody knocking on their doors. But, he does support organisations that are empowering young adults surrounded by influences like drugs, etc. to rather follow a path powered by sport or education, says Chagan. He therefore gladly bought matching tracksuits from Kappa at a special price to donate to another Masiphumelele netball team.
After considering several initiatives, Sports Trader decided to support the Masicorp Trust, which has been providing educational and community-based support to the Masiphumelele township since 1999, where more than 38 000 people live disadvantaged and poor (see www.masicorp.org).
What appealed to us is the fact that the Masicorp Trust focuses on education as the way out of poverty, instead of hand-outs.
But, most of all, we were inspired by the enthusiastic sports organiser who, we believe, deserves as much support as possible. The Masicorp Trust pays the salary of community member coach Nceba Jonas, who chairs the community sports programme and also:

• With the help of volunteers and in partnership with the NGO Goodsport, runs the physical education programme at Ukhanyo Primary School;
• In the afternoons he also coaches the primary school teams in soccer, rugby, cricket and netball. They have been doing exceptionally well and often win their matches against sporting schools in this league and the principal’s office is filled with trophies won by the sports teams. Their netball team is the current holders of the Southern Peninsula League Championship title.
• In addition, coach Nceba is chairman of the Masi community sports council and coaches community teams (who required the tracksuits) at the Fish Hoek Pirates netball and soccer club. And if that is not enough, he also runs aerobics classes in the community hall in the evenings.

The Masiphumelele community is very poor and parents struggle to afford sports kit — the primary school teams have therefore been competing in generic white T-shirts and shorts against well-equipped opponents wearing proper kits.
Coach Nceba has a dream that all his teams will one day be able to meet their opponents wearing proper school team kit, which would give his young learners the confidence to meet other schools on equal footing.