By: Marie Riou
Edcon, joined sponsors SANParks, Total, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and Exxaro at the Dreamfields' Community Soccer Championship tournament last Saturday to support eight Kruger National Park community primary schools competing for the 2009 Dreamfields Trophy.
In the lead up to the Championship tournament, and as part of its commitment to caring for communities, Edcon provided the eight participating primary school teams, which including four boys' teams and four girls' teams, with DreamBags for the semi-final tournament held at Mkhuhlu Stadium, close to the Paul Kruger Gate of the Kruger National Park last Thursday. Each DreamBag costs R5 500 and contains 11 footballs and 15 full sets of kit.
Each of the DreamFields' soccer tournaments last week ended with an afternoon prize giving ceremony with Department of Education representatives, Gugu Ndebele, head of Social Inclusion, and Themba Kojana manager of Rural Schools in attendance. Edgars Operations Executive, Mr Michael Kimmings handed over the medals and trophies to the deserving winners.
Says Dreamfields CEO, John Perlman, "Thanks to the support of sponsors like Edcon, we've been able to take the Dreamfields Project across South Africa.
The soccer tournament at Paul Kruger Gate was one of the best DreamEvents we've hosted, with Edcon's enthusiastic participation and generous support adding tremendous value to the initiative, which was evidenced by the participating children who played their hearts out. With DreamEvents in five provinces, Edcon has been an invaluable partner in our effort to grow the soccer dreams of our nation's children."
The not-for-profit Dreamfields Project, which launched in April last year, aims to put resources for playing soccer into township and rural schools across South Africa in the lead up to the 2010 FIFA World CupT. To date,
Dreamfields has equipped 820 schools countrywide with DreamBags of soccer kit. Through the Dreamfields Project, Edcon has sponsored DreamBags for 57 schools including 16 schools in Potchefstroom, North West; 17 in Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape; 12 in Newcastle KZN; four at Marakele National Park in Limpopo; and eight at the Paul Kruger Gate of the Kruger Park, Mpumalanga.
Says Edcon CSI Manager, Innocentia Buthelezi, "Edcon is proud to be part of the Dreamfields "Wild About Soccer" Project as it allows us to support children from underprivileged backgrounds with much needed equipment and hands-on encouragement to play a sport that is synonymous with South Africa as a nation of soccer fans. While these tournaments are an important day in the lives of these children, Dreamfields is about much more than soccer. It levels the playing fields and provides a catalyst for a much wider transformation that has thousands of children from all over South Africa believing in their own potential."