Homeschoolers given platform to become sports stars
The event was held at Ruimsig Athletics Stadium and catered for children from as little as three years of age, up to 17-year-olds
Homeschooling can come with a lot of restrictions on extra-curricular activities such as sports, compared to normal schools.
That barrier was again broken this year when a number of homeschooled learners took part in one of the biggest athletics and entrepreneurial events in the country on 20 October.
The event was held at Ruimsig Athletics Stadium and catered for children from as little as three years of age, up to 17-year-olds.
One of the organisers, Tracy van der Berg, explained the need to have such an event. “There is no platform for homeschoolers to participate in an athletics event together, so as a group of mothers, we arranged this event at the stadium for all learners from across Gauteng Province to attend and practice their athletic skills,” she said.
Another organiser, Michelle Visser, weighed in, saying, “Schools automatically have athletics days every year for their learners, but our children don’t go to school, because we homeschool them. This means we’ve got to rally the troops and do our athletics day independently,” she said.
The competition on the day, according to Carine de Jager, who was impressed with the overall turn out, consisted of track and field events for different age groups.
An athletics scout was present on the day to recruit any promising talent.
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