Social distancing measures have affected organisations involved in sports development – the cessation of sports programmes and coaching has meant a strategy rethink. For the non-profit organisation Sporting Chance Foundation (Sporting Chance), which works with primary-school children in under-resourced communities, a priority has been to keep children active despite the lockdown challenges.
Natalie Pollock, general manager of Sporting Chance, said children’s absenteeism has dropped at under-resourced schools since physical education was reintroduced into the curriculum. With support of their partners, including Disney Africa, Sporting Chance provided online ball skill and movement sessions to children with access to the internet, with 46 000 views recorded on Facebook during lockdown. Club sport fell away, but there was continued support for Sporting Chance coaches in Langa, Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha and Steenberg, who developed fitness and sports skills videos and worksheets.
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which funds 34 organisations and reaches 40 000 beneficiaries in South Africa, opted to channel funding towards staff retention within these organisations, along with fixed costs for the remainder of this year.
The International Platform on Sport and Development has recommended that future focus areas should include grassroots sports, particularly as a vehicle for tackling mental health problems and trauma – vital in a post-Covid-19 world. In addition, they recommended making sports development more equitable and inclusive, focusing on gender equality and community outreach, rather than just sporting codes themselves.
