The Power of Sport in Youth Development

South Africa is a proud sporting nation filled with passionate sports fans. Take the world cups,  a true example of when sport has the power to rise above colour and creed and bring a nation together. Imagine harnessing this power, passion and love for sport by creating a platform for future generations to leverage.

“Sport has the unique ability to bring people together, to offer hope where there is none, to inspire kids to dream and to give them focus especially in team sports. Kids learn to communicate with each other, which instills discipline and teaches them fair play. At the JP21 Project, we use sport as a tool to encourage kids to remain in school and, most importantly, to respect one another. We have a responsibility to provide our future leaders, businessmen, teachers, sportsmen and women, with the platform to express themselves and we need to encourage future generations to be whatever and whomever they want to be,” said project manager, Jamaine Cloete.

Therefore, introducing after-school sports programmes into disadvantaged communities offers more than just sports skills but furthermore in assisting with a variety of valuable life skills like; self-esteem, teamwork, social integration, healthy living, safe environments and creating new bonds and friendships.

“The provision of proper resources for children to play is essential in creating

opportunities for children’s holistic development.” – UNICEF

The implementation of sports programmes into disadvantaged communities is changing the way our children view the world. Sport is a great way of developing a child’s mind, body and spirit allowing the young mind to feel that he or she can overcome their social circumstances. Self belief, motivation and determination goes along way in surpassing one’s life challenges.

How do we enhance the lives of our children and get them off the streets and onto the field? It is about building a sustainable future for our youth and we believe sport is the key.

“Sport is a powerful tool to bring about change and through that understanding we, at the JP21 Project, aim to empower our kids by giving them opportunities and choices for their future. We have to encourage our next generation and there’s no greater way to do that than through the power of sport,” said founder JP Duminy.

The JP21 Project is a mere toddler, just starting to walk and talk. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. With the steadfast support of sponsors and partners, including; WPCA, CSA, PPC Cement, Nutribullet, Adidas, Sun international, TaylorMade and SACA all rallying together, the JP21 Project has starting building a legacy. Thus far we have reached 32 schools in Mitchells Plain with over 1500 participants and we were able to provide 6 kids in the programme with Bergvliet and Plumstead High School bursaries. With the help of the incredible sponsors and partners mentioned above, we aim to bridge the gap in the development of sport by expanding our project into 54 schools and further into high school level.

Stay tuned to our journey, where our aim is to Inspire Minds, Change Lives, Grow Champions.