Cape Town - The pupils and staff of Sir Lowry’s Pass Village Primary School were beaming with excitement as Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, the chairperson and founder of Gift of the Givers, visited their school to officially open its Astroturf netball court.
Both the hockey and netball teams, who will be sharing the grounds, made use of the court as soon as SA Protea netball star Phumza Maweni cut the ribbon to declare the sports facility ready for use.
“This is a great initiative, not only for the kids but for the community. Lives will be changed from this and I can attest to that because I started on grass but now I am where I am,” said Phumza.
The school’s netball team co-ordinator, Marie-Lee Phyffer, said the court would help her team practice for the coming games.
“This is a big achievement for us. We have been struggling for a long time now without a proper court, so this will definitely take us to the next level. I also think for our children, coming out of a community like ours, it’s something to look forward to and we will embrace it.”
After forming a relationship with the school for about two years, Dr Sooliman applauded the principal, management and the community for keeping the premises in check following their previous donations of three classrooms and a garden.
“The important thing to understand here is that we will not go to a school if there’s not good management, a strong principal, strong staff and community support because that money will go to waste.
“We are here today because Property24 approached us saying they would like to do a sports area. We decided to come back to a school that is well taken care off. We knew they needed a facility here and we decided to bring it before the netball world championship in July.
“As an additional measure, sports are very important for physical, emotional and mental development and to also move negative energy to positive energy. As an encouragement to the kids, we also decided to bring the South African netball star Phumza,” he said.