Grade seven teacher Jason Wehmeyer at Oatlands Preparatory School has the internet smiling after his class were filmed cheering on the SA Women’s Cricket Team.
Makhanda, South Africa (18 March 2022) – Teacher Jason Wehmeyer is an avid lover of sport, and he has introduced that to his grade 7 class. He shared a video of the class’s reaction to yesterday’s New Zeland vs South Africa match at the Women’s Cricket World Cup.
Jason started teaching at Oatlands Preparatory School three years ago and has gone beyond just education to inspire his learners. Jason heads up the girl’s cricket side at the school and hopes to see them become the cricketers of their dreams.
The biggest lesson he hopes to teach each of his learners is that sports are not just for boys and men. By encouraging this understanding, his learners have developed a great love of supporting the South African women’s teams across all fields.
We asked Jason how he started sharing live sports in the classroom, and he explained that the children get this opportunity whenever there is a big sporting event on. So long as they behave and follow all the class rules, they get to watch the significant events. His class is very well mannered, so they almost always get to see the sporting events happen live.
When we asked what the class’s favourite sport is, Jason didn’t hesitate to say “Rugby”. The reason being that the school is working hard to build up their rugby side, so it is very relevant to the learners. However, no sporting event is ruled out. Jason recently let the class watch the Olympics, and each sport was a valuable learning lesson as he helped them understand the rules of each new sport they saw.
Many of the children from the school come from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, and their exposure to a variety of sports is limited. By allowing the class to watch international sports, they learn that there are more than just cricket, rugby and soccer as potential options for sporting futures.
Jason is friends with Sinalo Jafta, and it was through this that he inspired his learners to take an interest in the sport. You will hear them cheering on Ayabonga Khaka, who happens to be batting at the time. Jason shared that their reactions to her game on the video are just how passionate they are about supporting the team.
The team was able to beat New Zealand in the match. New Zealand lost the match by two wickets.
Jason believes that as a country, we all need to support the South African Women’s Cricket Team. This is his primary motivation for encouraging the girl’s cricket team at Oatlands. The girl’s cricket team goes from strength to strength with every practice.
“If we can teach these girls, this generation, that it’s not a boy’s sport – you can go and play on TV, you can go and earn those big bucks; you can become a household name like Marizanne Kapp or Ayabonga Khaka. That can be you! – I think the girls have started adopting that idea, that they can become like that and it is so rewarding to see”
Take a look at the wholesome reaction the class had yesterday.
So proud of my Country! So are my Gr7s it seems👀👀 pic.twitter.com/bYzJ8MFSoa
— Jason Wehmeyer (@JaySeaDoubleYou) March 17, 2022
You can find the remaining fixtures for the tournament below.
Tuesday, 22 March: South Africa vs Australia – Basin Reserve, Wellington at 00h00 (CAT)
Thursday, 24 March: South Africa vs West Indies – Basin Reserve, Wellington at 00h00 (CAT)
Sunday, 27 March: India vs South Africa – Hagley Oval, Christchurch at 03h00 (CAT)
Wednesday, 30 March: Semi-final 1 – Basin Reserve, Wellington
Thursday, 31 March: Semi-final 2 – Hagley Oval, Christchurch
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