By: Sisathi Nomatye
It’s safe to call Hammanskraal’s Prestige College the “school of future sports legends”, given how the school’s sports teams excel in almost every competition they participate in.
Their most recent endeavour saw four of their teams walk away as Tshwane Play-off Champions, an achievement which the coaches have accredited to the students’ dedication and commitment to the respective teams.
The Under14 Girls Basketball, Under 17 Girls Netball, Under 15 Football Team and the First Team Girls Basketball are the teams that walked away with the title during this year’s Tshwane Play-Off Champions.
The school invests a lot in all their sports teams to nurture and produce the absolute best players. In the past, Prestige College pupils had the privilege of being chosen to represent the Gauteng province at the South African National championships in athletics, basketball, cross-country, chess and cricket. The school has not only been successful nationally but internationally as well, more than 12 of learners from different teams have also been fortunate enough to be selected to represent the country at the World Championships. Winning big sports events is a tradition which the current learners of the school have managed to keep.
Speaking to Moretele Times about his team’s achievement, basketball coach Mr Shedrack Moyo said, “I push the players to have a vision, then make that vision become a reality and that’s why they won the title”. Mr Moyo’s girls basketball team practises every Monday to Thursday and also has weekend camps where they train from 6:00 in the morning until 4pm.
Sports participation in schools is important as it fosters most of the skills that the children will use in their adult life. Skills such as team-building, discipline and goal-setting. This is one of the reasons that Prestige College prioritises sports as much as academics- to enrich the learners with such skills.
Director of Netball, Coach Corne Lotering says it was because of team effort and dedication that the girls won.
The netball team will also be playing at the Gauteng Champions, while the basketball team is looking forward to participating in upcoming tournaments like the Wits tournament and the Pietermaritzburg tournament.
