BlazeSports and Kennesaw State University Deliver Sport Programs in South Africa

South Africa

September 2009

From September 14-20, BlazeSports America staff traveled to Pretoria, South Africa to co-host the National Sport and Recreation Festival for Youth. Day one of the event, organized in cooperation with Kennesaw State University and the University of Pretoria, included lectures and workshops for over 60 university students, youth sports leaders, parents, and professionals in the field of disability sport. BlazeSports staff and KSU provided information on topics as wide-ranging as the potential for sport to promote social change, special issues faced by women and girls in obtaining recreation opportunities, and best practice in recreation and sport for people with disabilities.

Day two of the Festival was filled with hands-on, interactive fun and friendly competition. BlazeSports staff facilitated matches of team handball, sit volleyball, and boccia for young athletes with disabilities. The event concluded with a global dance where participants mingled and made new friends, both South African and American.

The Festival for Youth was a continuation of BlazeSports’ mission to spread awareness and promote visibility of individuals with disabilities. “One of the important things we accomplished,” said Nisha Kittles, BlazeSports’ Creative Projects Specialist, “was the new understanding given to the participating students not only about sport, but about people with disabilities.” Marybeth Jones, the Assistant Director of Sport and Program Services, praised the participants’ “tenacity, incredible enthusiasm, and endless amount of spirit.” “The disability was not the focus,” she continued, “but rather the abilities and opportunity for involvement.”

The Festival was part of continuing, multifaceted program organized by BlazeSports and the participating universities to promote the cause of disability sport in South Africa. In addition to events like this one, the program includes an international youth sports camp, an exchange of emerging professionals, and the “twinning” of US community-based sports programs and teams with programs in South Africa.

March 2009
BlazeSports and Kennesaw State University conducted sport seminars, hands on workshops and a sport festival in cooperation with Stellenbosch University to increase and enhance disability sport and recreation opportunities for youth, girls and young women with disabilities in South Africa.

Stellenbosch University students were among those attending the seminars and workshops to receive training in disability sport program development. Young people with disabilities from local townships participated in the sport festival where they had the opportunity to try a variety of Paralympic sports and learn basic skills from sport technical experts. BlazeSports expert instructors included Tim Wall, Marybeth Jones, and Fred Lamback.. Photos