IN THE NEWS

Merwe Genis and his band of merry men took the fields of Mbekweni Primary and Desmond Mpilo Tutu Secondary on Friday afternoon. This transformed the quiet, late afternoon school ground into a hive of excitement with eager-to-learn boys and girls joining in the action with youthful exuberance. The 314 children were divided into two big groups consisting out of smaller coaching segments.

Assisting Genis were young cricketers from the township as well as some players from elsewhere. Luwo Manyonga, Greg Hollis and Martin Van Der Merwe were assisting with batting groups on the netball courts. Another group was a touch more adventurous and took the rugby field with ponds of water still in abundance. Here Micheal Weston and Richard Cunningham saw to the bowling action of the young would be Ntinis, Parnells and Steyns. Slip catching on the field was taken care of by Ryan Hill.

Merwe explained that the Cricket School started in December 2008 at the same school for two days and with 160 children from Mbekweni. In his own words “Twelve years ago I had a vision for young children to be given a better opportunity to play Cricket in Paarl. The Cricket School has become a successful means for children to not only learn about the game, but more importantly gain valuable experience in developing their skills to tackle life …”

Omar Henry (Boland Cricket CEO) had the following to say; “Boland Cricket is committed to cricket in Mbekweni for Bakers Mini Cricket, schools, club cricket and we appreciate what Merwe is doing with the schools and the clubs. The few times that I was involved I could sense the passion for the game and we would like to encourage that. However we are facing a few challenges and we would appreciate that the local business people and the local government i.e. Drakenstein Municipality to really come on board with us and make a success of this wonderful project.”

Funding is indeed needed to keep these sessions in Mbekweni going. Genis feels that he cannot send the children home without offering them something to eat at the end of the session. He further feels that it would be a good thing to provide the kids with equipment to practice with, clothing to wear “to give them that feeling of identity of being part of a team …” There is also the added reality of escalating transport costs. Yet apart from all the obstacles Merwe Genis is still positive about The Mbekweni Cricket School.