Mbekweni, Western Cape, South Africa

	Zanele Tyantsi, Young Leader
			"I think the Centre is a good place for the people of my community, because it will groom champions for Mbekweni it will also help to decrease the crime rate. I also think the centre is a safe place for the small children of my community, even SCORE has made big changes in the community and SCORE is a very good organization to look after the centre. Also we as Mbekweni young leaders will help SCORE and Hope Through Action to look after the centre. We as people of Mbekweni we are very lucky to have a centre like this in our community.”

Zanele is a young leader from Mbekweni. Reflecting on the impact the new Community Sports Centre has had on the Mbekweni sports centre, she like many other inspiring leaders are helping transform their community through sport.

“I also think it will help the young leaders who like netball to take part because some people were complaining that the centre is for soccer only, what about netball and other sports codes? Now that we are taking further steps to meet other people’s needs at the centre it’s a good thing. In the centre there is also a netball group called “We girls” so it is a big step now!”

She believes the opportunity to play different sport codes in the centre will give players a better chance at improve in their skills, “It is a good opportunity for us girls who like netball to improve our skills and it`s also an opportunity for the little girls to be groomed to become stars.”

	Sizwe Jack, Young Leader
			“I feel great that the sports centre was built here in Mbekweni because some of the youth that are using drugs they are not using them regularly anymore. More people are now taking part in sport and when people play sport they are safe, they don’t do drugs and also don’t have time to do wrong things that they usually do, like house breaking and stealing.”

Sizwe is one of the many youth taking part in activities organised by SCORE at the newly opened Community Sports Centre in Mbekweni. SCORE’s activities are open to all community members and take place everyday, including girls and boys in all it’s activities.

“I think it’s good to have netball here at the sports centre because we can’t just have soccer only, we also have to include netball because this is not a soccer centre it’s a sport centre. I think we as boys have to take part in netball and know more about the sport and we can also play and be equal. Some of the girls in my area are asking me why there is no netball played here at the centre because they really want to play. So I think it`s good to have netball played here at the centre.”

	Andile Human, Young Leader
			“Mbekweni  Community Sports Centre has highlighted the community of Mbekweni in the whole wide world. The fact that the centre was officially opened by the dignitaries such as Geoff Thomson, the vice president of FIFA, Lord Mawhinney, Honary President of the football league, a member of the England 2018 board, and Phillip Green, patron of the charity Hope Through Action has put us in the eye people over the world.” Andile is a young leader in Mbekweni. He shares his experience of seeing his community change after the building of the new Community Sports Centre. “I as a young person of Mbekweni would really love to give special thanks to all the people who played a big role in building this facility, a special thanks to the people who made sure this project never failed, the one and only SCORE. I feel good about being a resident of Mbekweni and very proud about the Mbekweni Sports Centre. Mbekweni Community Sports Centre was built for all sports codes, obviously netball is one of them. People in Mbekweni use to play netball a lot in the olden days but since there are few fields to play at, people ended up not playing. However, that is going to change since the sports centre has introduced it, I hope netball lovers will come in big numbers to show their talents and skills. I feel good about it because by this we are giving back to the community of which is my vision and slogan as a SCORE Young Leader.”

	Nozuko Malunda, Young Leader
			“I feel very happy and excited about the sports centre because it has brought many changes in our community. Young people come to the centre everyday to play sports and have fun and also it has kept them away from doing wrong things, such as smoking drugs and drinking alcohol. The nice thing is that we can go to the centre with any kind of problems we have, there are people who can help and comfort us. That makes us feel at home.”

Nozuko is a young leader in Mbekweni, Paarl who for the last 5 months has been benefiting from the newly built Community Sports Centre in Mbekweni. The Community Sports Centre was designed not only to facilitate sports activities, but also act as a communal hub for community activities. Nozuko shares her expereicnes of the centre so far.

“Also at the centre you will find information about many things not just about sport. The centre has brought many opportunities for us as the youth of Mbekweni, we meet many faces and it has also created jobs. It’s great for us girls because now we can also play soccer, of which did not happen before because soccer was always just for boys.

It was a great day for us when netball was introduced because it is a great sport for girls. It also makes us proud that not only soccer is important, but all sports are because people always care about soccer. It has made me very happy and full of confidence as a girl, because boys don’t play netball so I think they are going to start playing now. Even at school there are always meetings for soccer but not for netball. I was asking myself why is soccer very important because to me all sports are equal and they are good for our bodies.