Girls’ soccer school gets a boost
Ikasi Girls Soccer School, which runs various programmes at Hopolang Combined School, had their call for help answered when they received a donation of uniforms, shoes and kit, a fortnight ago.
A total of 47 girls, who attend various schools such as Hopolang Combined School, Kukhanyile Primary, Eluxolweni Primary, Lwandle Primary and Iqhayiya Secondary School, and are part of the Ikasi programme, were excited to receive the donation.
Founder of Ikasi Girls Soccer School, Dumisani Ntsodo, said among the many reasons why they opted to start the soccer school was to provide a platform for young girls to express themselves while using football is a catalyst to groom them into becoming future leaders of tomorrow.
He said through sport they wanted to make a meaningful impact on the girls' lives and they will always continue to look for sponsors that will assist them in making a difference.
“Our main purpose is to try by all means to ensure that we better the lives of these girls one way or another. We are driven by the fact that the assistance that we get goes a long way and that means we are on the right path.
“Our dream and mission is to ensure that each and every girl child that participates in our programmes does not leave this set up and we try to find resources to turn their dreams into a reality. Our primary goal is not to turn these girls into professional footballers but our main objective is to ensure that we develop young girls who are able to make informed life choices and decisions.
“We want to see some of these girls being top executives. If some of them become professional footballers then that is a bonus. But we can't do that alone, we need every bit of help we can get from everyone,” he said.
Mr Ntsodo said they are also grateful to parents who believed in them when they started the programmes because they had a choice of saying no.
He said this might look like a small donation but it means that all of these girls will now attend school everyday.
Corporate Social Investment co-ordinator at Hollywood Foundation, Zikhona Buzani, said the foundation is mainly focused on improving the lives of disadvantaged pupils from various schools and communities through giving out stationery and full school uniforms.
She believes that the best gift that they could give as the foundation to any child is to enable that child to continue with their studies and never allow their challenges to derail them from chasing their dreams.
Deputy principal of Hopolang Combined School, Study Dangala said they were excited that they opened the doors of Ikase when they wanted to use their facilities because this relationship has opened many doors for them and other children from nearby schools.
He hopes that they will continue with their hard work and keep changing their lives of girl children.