Newlands hosted the KFC Mini-Cricket festival on Friday which saw over 1000 kids and 200 coaches attend the inspiring event, writes Khalid Mohidin.
It was my first time attending the event. As I walked into Newlands I heard cheerful ambience of joyful kids as they filled up the stadium.
Instantly I saw the influence of the KFC-Mini Cricket programme and how important it is to the development of cricket in South Africa.
Not only does it give an opportunity to kids to have fun, it has grown into something special that has become a stepping stone to greatness for more and more players, especially those who don’t have the opportunity to play the game due to uncontrollable circumstances.
“I was introduced to cricket by playing Mini-Cricket and it started with me just playing to do something to keep me busy but I see that things have changed considerably since I played,” said Western Province and Proteas wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta.
“I can see that there are a lot more kids playing KFC Mini-Cricket, they know a lot more about cricket than what I used to and they really have a lot of fun.
“As a player we don’t always know the impact that we have on the players.
“My brother plays rugby and when his mates come back from a KFC Mini-Cricket festival they tell him about all the professional players that they have met and how the players have inspired them.
“Who knows, one of the kids that I spoke to today could be the next Laura Wolvaardt.”
“We had 1000 kids and over 200 coaches that come from schools from all 5 regions in the Western Cape,” added Mark Khoabane the Western Province Mini-Cricket coordinator.
“These youngsters and their teachers get excited to play on a big stage like the Newlands Cricket Ground where they get to see their heroes play.
“It was special for the kids to get to see Simon Khomari, Isaac Dikgale, Laura Wolvaardt, Andrie Steyn and Sinalo Jafta at the festival but the big surprise for me was when retired Proteas player Rory Kleinveldt actually asked me if he could attend the festival to coach the kids.
“It just shows how special the programme is for the players for them to ask to be part of it.”
A total of 124,000 kids from 6,495 schools take part in 44,000 KFC Mini-Cricket matches around the country over the cricket season.
This crushes any criticism that Cricket South Africa does not invest in grass roots development in the country.
The KFC Mini-Cricket remains the most impactful grass roots level programme in the country and something that we at Cricket Fanatics Magazine fully support.
