The 2008 Pick n Pay Calypso Cricket road show has proved to be the biggest and best ever, involving over 8000 participants all along the South African coast with a total of 14 festivals taking place in 9 regions. The Calypso project now into its 18th year has grown considerably since its launch in 1991 when it was just one festival on Sunrise Beach, Muizenberg involving 300 participants. As well as encouraging children to follow a healthy lifestyle, this year the 2008 Pick n Pay Calypso Cricket road show set out to identify promising talent under the banner of “to find a fast bowler”!

The first ball was bowled on Addington Beach, Durban on Monday 24th November with perfect weather and a ‘full house’ of participants, it was an excellent way to start the two day event which was packed to capacity with exciting cricket action. It was fantastic to have a large amount of parental support for the children and this provided an extra dimension to the matches. KZN Cricket once again put their full support behind the festivals and the academy players joined in on the beach to provide inspiration. 

The road show moved south to Nahoon Beach, East London where again the Calypso team was greeted with near perfect conditions, setting the stage for 1100 children from the surrounding communities to enjoy two days of cricket. Border Cricket was there in full force with their talent identification team recording the many promising players. The first week of the road show had really paved the way for two successful weeks to follow.  

Port Elizabeth was the scene of the next festival and despite the ‘windy city’ being true to its name the festival was well attended, with much enthusiastic participation. EP Cricket was well represented and their youth division was instrumental in the success of the day.

The road show then headed for the magnificent Garden Route where we were oversubscribed with children on Robberg Beach in Plettenberg Bay. In addition to the 500 children transported from the various community schools, over 200 children walked 15 km’s to the beach, which made for a very busy and exciting day. The festival went off well and it was great to have the opportunity to reach additional children.

The beautiful SanParks Beach in Wilderness offered sunshine and a picturesque beach with over 500 children enjoying the cricket throughout the day and hoping to impress the SWD Cricket talent scouts.

Next stop was Mossel Bay where again we were greeted by a pristine beach and a great number of children clambering for their spot to be a part of the Calypso Cricket action.

Grotto Beach in Hermanus brought to an end the away leg of the Pick n Pay Calypso Cricket road show, but not without leaving lasting messages with the involvement of the local SAPS throughout the day and memories of great cricketing fun in the summer sun.

Main Beach Strand played host to the beginning of the third week. The Strand locals were treated to some excellent cricket talent on display as the Khayelitsha and Helderberg children used the shoreline pitches to show off their skills. 

Long Beach in Kommetjie was a new venue and included the communities of Ocean View and Masipumelele for the first time.  The new venue proved to be a great success with much praise for the Calypso concept.  

It was then back to Calypso’s ‘home’ for the remainder of the week with three festivals on Sunrise Beach, Muizenberg from Wednesday 10th to Friday 12th December. The festivals were, as always, oversubscribed with participants from all around the greater Western Cape involving the communities of Mitchells Plain, Manenberg, Nyanga, Gugulethu, Langa, Elsies River, Bonteheuwel, Kwezi and Crossroads. The Western Province Cricket Association used the festivals as a prime opportunity to spot future Cape Cobras and on Thursday the children were treated to seeing their heroes in action as the Cobras team took on a Calypso team on the hallowed Sunrise Beach shoreline. Deputy Mayor of the City of Cape Town, Mr Grant Haskin came to experience Calypso first hand and to show his support for the project. 

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 being physically active, nutrition, hygiene, crime and highlighting the importance of having a stable democracy in our country.

The 2008 Pick n Pay Calypso Cricket road show has undoubtedly been the biggest and best yet - blessed with three weeks of excellent weather which laid the perfect platform to work with the over 8000 eager participants. The objective to focus on identifying promising untapped talent was certainly achieved with the significant involvement of the various cricket franchises and amongst those spotted we hopefully have a number of potential future fast bowlers!

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 MEC Mr Cameron Dugmore from the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, 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!