“Cricket is such a wonderful way to get children outside and active. And it is one of those sports you can play virtually anywhere. From their back yard to the beach, the children will find a way to play the game,” said SA cricketer Wayne Parnell while in Grahamstown earlier this week.
“Cricket is such a wonderful way to get children outside and active. And it is one of those sports you can play virtually anywhere. From their back yard to the beach, the children will find a way to play the game,” said SA cricketer Wayne Parnell while in Grahamstown earlier this week.
The Proteas left-arm medium-fast bowler was in town for an exclusive KFC Mini-Cricket coaching session with youngsters from Kingswood Junior School on Tuesday.
This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came courtesy of 2006 Kingswood headboy Bekithemba Ngulube whose name was drawn from thousands of entries in a competition earlier this year. He nominated his old high school as the recipient of the coaching clinic.
The KFC Mini-Cricket campaign aims to get children from across South Africa to lead active and balanced lifestyles. Parnell, who also plays for the Chevrolet Warriors, said he was once part of the system when it was still called Bakers Mini-Cricket and now it's his turn to give back to the campaign. The Mini-Cricket builds interest in cricket in youngsters and is a way of laying the foundation for a life-long interest in cricket, he said.
Three of the U11 players attending the clinic were star struck and their interest in the sport was definitely not lacking.
Jano Griesel described the afternoon as “one of my favourite things ever,” while Ethan Maddocks said being coached by Parnell was “awesome, because he plays for Warriors – my favourite team”. Darius Govender simply said the afternoon coaching session was “amazing, because he is a professional player”.
KFC South Africa corporate social investment and sponsorship manager Lauren Turnbull said, “this is our third year of involvement in KFC Mini-Cricket and events such as today reflect the extent to which the youth have embraced the sport. We are proud to be able to bring a well-respected player to hold a hands-on coaching session with these boys”.
The 2011/12 season saw the programme attendance grow by 20%, resulting in more than 100 000 kids being actively involved. KFC partnered with Cricket South Africa in 2010 and there are currently more than 100 000 kids from 4 500 schools and just over 7 000 coaches involved in KFC Mini-Cricket.
This season, KFC Mini-Cricket festivals started in September and will run until March, with children from all 16 of the cricket provinces getting a taste of the action. The provincial cricket unions have also committed to having some of their senior players at the festivals to give some invaluable hands-on tips to the children.
The focus this season will also be on the KFC Mini-Cricket kids' ambassador search which will get young players encouraging other kids to join the programme and for those already in the programme to play more frequently. Auditions will be held at all festivals.
