Zandspruit gets a sporting chance

Ball skills, netball, tag and catch were some of the activities Sporting Chance showed Zandspruit Primary School pupils through their new programme.

Sporting Chance and Disney Africa have joined forces to teach healthy living to underprivileged children through Disney Healthy Happy Play, where Disney characters are used to teach important health lessons. The programme also contains lesson plans and coaching for educators to continue good practices of healthy eating and exercise.

“We are here to highlight the purpose of sport in the youth, as many schools do not have sport in their curriculum or the infrastructure for sport,” said project manager, Bradlyn Stuurman.

Sporting Chance arrived in Gauteng on 29 August and, with the help of the City of Joburg, identified schools in need. Stuurman and his team visited Grade 3 and 4 classes of Zandspruit Primary School on 31 August.

Stuurman spoke to the pupils about strengthening their hearts and explained about exercises for the upper and lower body. Nyaniso Mhayi, as ‘Coach Pluto’, taught the classes about core muscles and how to strengthen them. ‘Coach Goofy’, Wonga Matshabane, ended the talk, discussing nutrition and the five food groups.

Afterwards, the classes joined the coaches outside for some sporting fun.

Schools in the programme will receive continued support through a mentoring and monitoring system. Regular assessments of progress in implementing the programme will also be made. A database of the schools and educators will also be developed to create a network for sharing skills and ongoing development.

Disney Healthy Happy Play will reach 30 schools and 15 000 pupils in four provinces, Western Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape in the coming months. The material used in the programme has been developed in collaboration with the Sports Science Institute of South Africa and the Department of Basic Education.