Photo Credit: Bambisanani Partnership

A fun mix of teamwork and competition was the order of the day as the Bambisanani Partnership hosted its 4th Annual International Athletics Challenge, bringing together 13 primary schools from South Africa and the UK.

 

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (01 August 2024) —Thirteen primary schools raced, competed, and had fun while demonstrating their athletic skills at the 4th Annual Bambisanani Partnership International Athletics Challenge.

The exhilarating event was all about promoting sportsmanship, competition, and personal growth among young participants while fostering international collaboration.

Bringing young people together through sport

Sports are more than just physical activity for children; they’re a cornerstone of holistic development, contributing to a child’s strength, endurance, confidence, leadership skills, and ability to work in a team.

According to the Bambisanani Partnership, the jam-packed sports event saw 355 learners participating in a range of athletics challenges in their own schools and then compared performances virtually to create competition between the schools.

The event was supported by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Sport, Arts & Culture and Coastlands Hotels and Resorts.

From running and long jumping to tennis ball throwing, the programme encouraged all participants to work hard to improve their personal performance in six different events for boys and girls.

The impressive and unique athletic schools’ event is the brainchild of Bambisanani Founder David Geldart. He explained that the partnership’s goal is to unite young people from South Africa and the UK through sport, fostering collaboration and learning.

“We have created a simple and fun programme that reflects the very essence of athletics with an approach relevant to everyone involved regardless of ability. We have provided opportunities for youngsters to compete against themselves and against others, in their own school and between schools, in their own country and internationally, Geldart shared.”

The South African schools involved were Vumanhlamvu, Makhanyezi, Iwangu, Kwa-Mtshwili, Mome, Ntumbeni, Sigananda, Iwangu, Dlabe and Silambo. The UK schools involved were all from the Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust and included St. Joseph’s, Pudsey; St. Mary’s, Horsforth and Holy Name, Cookridge.

SA and UK youth party in Nkandla

The fun and festivities didn’t stop there. An athletics festival was also held in South Africa for schools from the Nkandla region. This Festival was supported by young Sports Leaders from St. Mary’s School in the UK.

Catherine Chattoe, Bambisanani Coordinator from St. Mary’s, described the festival as fantastic, saying:

“The excitement levels were off the scale from all involved. It would be wonderful to extend this programme to more schools and to provide further opportunities for the very talented young people that we are discovering.”

In a world filled with so much doom and good, such uplifting events are worth highlighting and we can only hope that they will continue to lay a well-rounded foundation for our children’s growth, equipping them with essential life skills that extend far beyond the playing field!


Sources: Bambisanani Partnership
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