Sport is such a great way to develop not only healthy bodies but also healthy minds but in the poorer areas it can be very difficult for children to get proper coaching and sports facilities are very limited. This is where the Sports Experience project plays such an important role. Established in 1992, the sports school facilitates fantastic sports outreach programs into schools and creches. Aside from physical education, cycling, golf, soccer, touch rugby, hockey, bowls, cricket and even recently swimming are just a few of the sports that are coached which gives some of the talented youth who normally would not have access to take part in these sports, the opportunity to do so and excel.

There is a great program for the little ones called “kids in traffic” that teaches foundation phase learners at creches and playschools the rules of the road with road sign props and bicycles with the aim of instilling road safety from an early age. Foundation phase learners also have general physical education so the sports experience project has so much variety with age group, locations, and socio-economic background of the youth you will be assisting with

You would also be involved with sports administration, setting up for matches and tournaments and general maintenance on sports grounds and with equipment so it is a great all-around sports project for those crazy about sports and wanting to uplift youth from disadvantaged areas with sports development …. or even those looking at studying sports development and coaching as a career

Coaching can take place within the various schools and creches, driving ranges and golf courses and some at the sports school grounds depending on the school term and season as some sports are seasonal. For those that enjoy cycling, the cycling program has some incredibly beautiful scenic routes and is highly popular both with volunteers, coaches and the youth….but make sure you stick to the group and don’t get lost like some past volunteers!

If you have an interest in a particular sport, please let us know so we can do our best to accommodate you.

If you would like to assist in a specific sport, the seasons for the different sports are as follows:

• Competitive Bowls, Tag Rugby, Golf and Cycling: All year round
• Cricket: January – mid March, and September – mid November
• Tennis: April – end of May
• Hockey: Mid-March until September

This project runs in the South African school term. We do suggest you try and book closer to the beginning of term and not the end as that is when assessments and exams take place. The last 3 weeks of the 4th term of the year never a good time to volunteers as when the children have finished writing their final exams, the majority only attend school to pick up their reports and the numbers are very low.