THE PICK ‘n PAY CALYPSO BEACH CRICKET FESTIVAL

Sporting Chance and title sponsors Pick ‘n Pay, in association with JAG Sports and Education Foundation, Virgin Active and assisted by Rotary International volunteers again facilitated the Pick n Pay Calypso Beach Cricket Festival along the coast of South Africa.  The aim of the festival, now in its 17th year, is to involve children from within South Africa’s emerging communities that are rife with crime, drug & alcohol abuse and challenging living conditions to highlight how sport can bring about a positive lifestyle change.

Monday 26th November, Addington Beach, Durban hosted the first ball of the 2007 tour with KZN Cricket CEO, Cassim Docrat bowling an accurate in-swinger to opening batsmen and stalwart of Dolphins Cricket, Doug Watson. Kwa Zulu Natal and Dolphins  Cricket showed their avid support for Calypso, and were represented on the beach by members of KZN Cricket Academy – utilising the Festival as part of their quest to “Find a Fast Bowler” as well as the full Dolphins Cricket team. Former Proteas coach, Graham Ford, as well as Vince van der Bijl and Max Jordaan of Cricket South Africa, and numerous KZN Cricket Executive members came down to Addington beach to view the Calypso spectacle.
 
Brad Bing, MD of Sporting Chance emphasises the success of expanding the road show into Kwa Zulu Natal “Coming to Durban has been a resounding success. What was important for me, and for the concept of Calypso, is that we are utilising this event as a vehicle to find talent and get those children that would’ve gone unnoticed due to the lack of facilities and clubs in their regions, into the system, and to get them into a program where they can be nurtured and developed, hopefully seeing them get into provincial teams. The program has been so successful in the Western Cape, and to date we have many players that started off being spotted on the beach now playing in provincial and club teams at youth level, including Thami Tsolekile, who played for the Proteas, and currently plays for the Nashua Cape Cobras.” 

From Durban the road show worked its way down the coast to Cape Town with the Calypso Cricket action being brought to the beaches of East London, Port Elizabeth, Plettenberg Bay, Wilderness, Mossel Bay, Hermanus and the Strand, before finishing off with four fantastic festivals in Muizenberg.

Each of the 14 Calypso festivals was warmly received within the regions with the support of the local cricket associations being paramount. Border Cricket welcomed the additional festival in East London and Greg Hayes and his talent identification team was on the beach to make the most of the opportunity. EP Amateur Cricket was ready for the PE festival, however unfortunately the festival was cut short due to bad weather. Johan Weyers, Development Manager for SWD Cricket and the SWD Eagles U19 team were down at the Wilderness and Mossel Bay festivals to identify young talent for their development program. Johan praised the Calypso initiative “It is through programs like this facilitated by Brad Bing and Sporting Chance, that provincial cricket bodies such as the SWD region can utilise the event to spot any talented youngsters and get them into coaching programs. Today alone we have identified a number of girls for our under 13 programs, and there are also a number of young boys that are going to be put into our under 10, under 12 and under 14 programs.”

The Cape Town leg of the road show provided opportunities for children from different communities around the Unicity of Cape Town. The first festival of the four on Sunrise beach welcomed members of the Nashua Cape Cobras who joined the participants to take in the energy and share some valuable advice with the aspiring batters and bowlers.

Media coverage was extensive with national and local media organistaions featuring the Pick n Pay Calypso road show in various mediums along the road show.

With over 500 children transported everyday from the surrounding communities, the lifesavers patrolling the seas, medical staff and security watching over, officials imparting valuable advice, local Rotarians, Sporting Chance, Pick ‘n Pay, JAG and Virgin Active staff lending a helping hand, each festival was an outing for everyone to enjoy and remember.

Another well organised event and another successful Calypso Beach Cricket tour. Thanks to our sponsors and well done to all those who made it such a great success and thank you for helping us make South Africa a better place in which to live!