Children of the Dawn believes in using sport as a tool for social development. Rope-skipping is a new exciting post proving very popular amongst our children.
We recently have a 3-day rope-skipping tournament judged by two representatives from the South African gymnastics Association in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga province. The main objectives of our rope skipping tournament is to engage, educate, motivate, and creating a fun environment for our kids.
From inception of the rope-skipping programme, training consisted of 2-day elementary coaching and judging workshop runs in all 8 Children of the Dawn communities by the rope-skipping section of the SA Gymnastics Federation, with regular training following and participation in other events for some skippers.
From 9th to 11th July 2014, the rope-skipping competition gathered 68 Children of the Dawn beneficiaries. The tournament was divided into 3 non gender categories: category 1 (8-11 years old), category 2 (12-14 years old) and category 3 (15 and more).
The competition proved to be filled with great displays of skills and perseverance, with many of our beneficiaries displaying natural talent in rope-skipping.
With anticipation rising, winners were announced on the second day of the tournament, in Category 1 Mangweni took the overall prize with Qwaqwa taking silver and Ermelo taking Bronze. Category 2 went to Qwaqwa taking both first place and 2nd place with the silver medal, and Mpumaze taking the bronze medal. Finally the last and most intense category 3 brought Qwaqwa as the category winners with Bushbuckridge taking both the silver and bronze.
As a result of the competition and consistent training, the talent of our rope-skippers has been observed and noted. Some Children of the Dawn beneficiaries may be able to participate in the National Championship later on during the year.
We at Children of the Dawn are proud of all our beneficiaries. As our beneficiaries begin to enter their teen years, it becomes a difficult and confusing period in their lives, fighting peer pressure and participating in negative activities. Thank you Momentum for the funding.