The 2009 Pick n Pay Calypso Cricket Festival concluded at ‘the home of Calypso’ on Sunrise beach, Muizenberg after a successful three-week road show along the coast of South Africa.

The Sporting Chance project which is in its 19th year and sponsored by Pick n Pay in association with Virgin Active and Super Sport Lets Play exposed over 8000 children to the fun-filled beaches. This year the project received unprecedented support from the various cricket authorities as promising batsmen, bowlers and fielders exhibited their skills in front of talent scouts across the coastal areas of South Africa.
Cricket South Africa’s Manager of Schools Cricket and Development, Niels Momberg has always supported initiatives which coach and nurture cricketing talent in the country and was extremely supportive of the Pick n Pay Calypso Cricket Festival.

“Sporting Chance has done an amazing job in the past with helping cricket development in the country, and Cricket South Africa supports initiatives like this as it gives children a chance to play, be identified and nurtured in a fun-filled environment” said Momberg
The 2009 Pick n Pay Calypso Cricket road show started on Thekwini Beach, Durban on Monday 30th November 2009. Despite the rainy weather the Nashua Dolphins cricket team and KwaZulu Natal Cricket CEO Jesse Chellen all got their feet wet as they worked with over 1000 children during the two days identifying talent and giving expert advice to the admiring children. Chellen was very watchful in identifying skilled cricketers on the beach, and endeavoured to make sure they will proceed through the correct channels to be honed and developed in the formal coaching structures of KZN Cricket.

“Given the wonderful Durban beaches, I will be exploring opportunities with Sporting Chance on how we can make Pick n Pay Calypso Cricket more accessible and more regular in identifying talent in our region”, said Chellan.
From Durban the road show moved south to Nahoon Beach where Border Cricket welcomed the festival. Unfortunately the overcast and rainy conditions followed the team to East London, however this did not deter Deon Muller, Coaching Manager from Border Cricket making the most of this opportunity to identify talent during the two festivals.
Week two started with the first sight of sun as Port Elizabeth and EP Amateur Cricket made the festival notably worthwhile by identifying six players to join their youth squads.
Johan Weyers, Development Manager for SWD Cricket was on the beach in Wilderness and Mossel Bay to enjoy the good weather and 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.”

The away leg of the road show was concluded on Grotto Beach in Hermanus where Proteas and Cape Cobras cricket icon Herschelle Gibbs lent a helping hand with coaching and fostering an interest in the game.
“I grew up loving the beach and loving cricket, so to put a combination of the two together is the perfect setting for anyone to be a part of this game” said Gibbs.
The third week started with testing elements as the wind blew in Strand. This didn’t deter the interest and excitement of the children and before long the sight of a full beach with children enjoying cricket took away the thoughts of the sandy gusts.

16th Dec 2009 and the ‘Day of Reconciliation’ provided a pristine environment for Calypso Cricket. Long Beach in Kommetjie was at its best with over 500 children from the surrounding communities playing cricket in perfect sunny weather. Onlookers flocked to admire the sight and there was much praise for Pick n Pay and the Calypso concept.
Three festivals on Sunrise Beach, Muizenberg the ‘home of Calypso Cricket’ brought a close to a wonderfully successful three week road show.
Herschelle Gibbs joined the team for the week as he thoroughly enjoyed passing on his experiences and expertise to the jubilant children.

Gibbs said that he was very impressed with the talent on the beaches around the Cape, “I have been impressed to see boys and girls diving in the water and displaying beautiful cricketing flair in the past few days. I don’t think we have tapped into most of our talent and initiatives like this expose what every cricket enthusiast wants to see.”
Managing Director of Sporting Chance, Brad Bing has said that the support from almost every cricket union in every region has been invaluable in ensuring that every child gets a fair opportunity in exploiting their cricket skills.
“Kids set their lifestyle patterns by the age of 12, so by giving them an opportunity to play cricket on the beach is imperative to their development. If the cricketing authorities miss an opportunity like this, they might miss the opportunity of developing a future cricketing hero like Makhaya Ntini or Shaun Pollock” said Bing.
Throughout the three week road show each festival has had its own unique objective specific to their region, but overall the Calypso team has focused on giving all the children the opportunity to participate in a fun and healthy sporting environment particularly at this festive time of year. A great deal of emphasis has been placed on educating the participants on the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle with the end of day vibe session including a message on the importance on nutrition, personal hygiene, fighting crime and on being physically active.

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 and Pick ‘n Pay staff lending a helping hand, each festival was an outing for everyone to enjoy and remember.
From Sporting Chance and the Calypso team a very special thanks to our title sponsors Pick n Pay. The Pick n Pay teams all along the road show were an absolute pleasure to work with and we thank them for sharing in our passion and giving hope to the children of South Africa!
Thank you to our associate sponsors Virgin Active and to media partners Super Sport Let’s Play and to the various Rotary clubs for making the Calypso project possible and for assisting us to make a difference to so many people’s lives!