‘Khayelitsha win the double and two young boys excited to be back at Wynberg Super Skills.’
Those two moments give an accurate summary of Friday afternoon as 200 players from 14 schools throughout the Western Cape (and one from Johannesburg) converged on the Jacques Kallis Cricket Oval at Wynberg Boys High School for the annual Wynberg Super Skills, sponsored by Sporting Chance and supported by NS Cricket and SuperSport Let’s Play.
Born from the inspiration of cricket mastermind, the late Bob Woolmer. The competition is a fun exercise that emphasizes the essential aspects of the game of cricket. Wynberg Boys High headmaster Keith Richardson explains “its format entices competition, teamwork and enthusiasm while focusing on the necessity of mastering the key fundamentals of bowling, batting, fielding, catching and throwing.”
Tanner Matodes and Matthew Smith, both from Hermanus Primary School, were equally excited at being back for their second Super Skills. The long trek to the city did nothing to diminish their keenness for the event. They were familiar with some of the stations, but this did not allow complacency, as they encouraged each other all the way through.
The afternoon was made for parents too, as they socialised with each other, and supported their youngsters. Many commented on the unique concept with Terence Hermanus, a parent making a pertinent comment “In a match you may get away with having a weaker side, but this tests everything.”
The surprise package of the day must have been Khayelitsha. In keeping with their vision of exposing the children of the South African communities to organised sport, Sporting Chance and Wynberg Boys High School extended an invitation to the u11 and u13 Sporting Chance Development Foundation teams from both Khayelitsha and Langa.
The teams certainly rose to the occasion, with both Khayelitsha teams not only making it to the finals, but surpassing all expectations to take the u11 and u13 crowns, beating Kenridge Primary School and St Peter’s respectively. The u12 title went to Wynberg Boys Junior School who beat Welgemoed, while St Augustine’s pipped Wynberg Boys High School to the u14 title.
Khayelitsha also claimed one of the individual awards, with Sisonke winning the u11 age group. Chase from WBJS won the u12s, with Mika from WBHS walking away with the u14 prize. Hermanus Primary was rewarded for their travels when Franco was awarded the individual prize for the u13s.
But besides the winners, it was a day for new friendships, as different communities, paths that would not ordinarily collide, came together. Kenridge and Khayelitsha, Wynberg Boys with Somerset College, during the finals. St Peter’s College all the way from Johannesburg also made a stop at Wynberg Super Skills as part of their annual Cricket Tour to Cape Town.
The oval itself received special mention from the players, several of them exclaiming how “awesome” it was to play on the turf that had been the nurturing ground and launch pad for many cricket careers including one of the world’s greatest cricketers Jacques Kallis and new Protea sensation Richard Levi, amongst others. Former Cobras, Protea and Wynberg old boy, Charl Willoughby made a guest appearance and passed on his cricket knowledge to many enthusiastic participants.
The event would not have been possible without the hard work of staff at Wynberg Boys High School supported by Sporting Chance. A tremendous thank you to all involved and to NS cricket for the excellent prizes and to products suppliers Peninsula Beverages, Bokomo, SA Cricket magazine, BIC and Flip File who helped us fill the players goodie bags.
We look forward to future events…