March 15, 2004
By Lebofsa Masha
IT is usual to see children kicking footballs in the streets of Alex, spending afternoons with friends and dreaming of being part of the Bafana Bafana squad in 2010.
But for many of the preschoolers of the township, these may not simply be dreams. They are already part of a development programme to upgrade sports skills and even identify future sports stars.
The Little Champs academy in Alexandra caters for 298 children
The children are all taking part in a programme run by the Little Champs Academy, a national project started some three years ago to teach children from a young age basic sporting skills and at the same time improve gross and fine motor coordination: hand-eye coordination, balance, agility, speed, foot-eye coordination and spatial awareness.
Children between the ages of three and seven are encouraged, through their local preschools, to take part in the course, which runs throughout the year.
At the Alexan Kopano Community Centre 30 little people get put through their paces, kicking footballs and swinging hula-hoops around their waists. An air of intense concentration settles on the group, with an occasional outburst of joy and laugher from the children. Says Little Champs coach Sphiwe Khubheka: "Children are coached in basic skills like how to throw a ball underarm, at chest height and so on. This helps children aim at targets."
For these Alex youngsters, learning physical skills will also improve life skills. Khubheka believes that the children also learn about perseverance and how to concentrate, all of which will benefit them when they get to school.
Now the children of Dobsonville in Soweto will also get the same opportunity as their counterparts in Alex. A Little Champs Academy, Dinaledi Tse Nyane, is to be launched in April at the Dobsonville cricket ground.
Dinaledi Tse Nyane has been set up as a Section 21 company by holding company Little Champs (Pty) Ltd.
Little Champs identified Soweto as a growth base, according to director, Marc Hossmann. "We visited different centres around Soweto and were impressed by the Dobsonville facilities, security and the number of children."
The programme's community social responsibilities manager, Herbert Milanzi Milanzi, said: "The facilities in Dobsonville are great, with both indoor and outdoor facilities. The centre will be able to accommodate about 3 000 children."
Already some 39 preschools have registered to become part of the programme.
"With our new equipment, team of coaches, brand new coaching curricula, sponsors and the 'Friends of Little Champs' we are set for an awesome year," technical director Lauren Radomsky said in a press release.
Little Champs has four centres operating in Gauteng: Alexandra, Waverley and Sandton in Johannesburg; and Duduza in Ekurhuleni. The academy makes use of local facilities to run its programmes.
Hossmann says the programme was developed to enhance the children's core competencies needed to participate in sport. Once the basics are in place the children are then introduced to other, more specific, sports like golf, cricket, netball and soccer.
"Three years ago we noticed that there were very few sports facilities - and no programme offering preschoolers developmental skills - in Alexandra," the programme's community social responsibilities manager, says Milanzi, "and so we decided to set up the programme." Since then Little Champs has had "positive feedback from both school principals and parents".
The Little Champs academy in Alexandra caters for 298 children from 12 pre-schools and crèches. Says Elizabeth Nkosi, principal of Thandanani Early Learning Centre: "The programme motivated both the practitioners and children. We started realising how children learn other skills like kicking, running and balance." The Thandanani Early Learning Centre joined the programme in 2001.
And Little Champs also provides other opportunities for the preschoolers, such as organising a group visit to the movies, participating in programmes on the local radio station, Alex FM, and visiting the library in the recreation centre.
Principal Rose Makhene said there was not much space at the Amukelani Day Care Centre where she looked after groups of young children. Using the facilities at the recreation centre and being coached by professionals gave the children greater opportunities to learn.
Professor Cora Burnett of the human movement science department at the Rand Afrikaans University, commenting on the programme, said: "Champions are raised not born. If you don't have the foundation there is nothing to build your dreams on."
For anyone interested in the Little Champs programme it costs R100 to join, with a monthly fee of R100 for the training sessions per preschool. "While there is a nominal fee is payable by the schools and children, the bulk of the money comes from sponsors Joshua Door and Jungle Oats," said Hossmann.
For more information contact Little Champs Sports Academy on 011 786 6055 or email littlechamps@icon.co.za.
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