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United Through Sport South Africa Delivers 11 Budding Provincial Sport Stars

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Kiara Meyer and Sachin Padayachee are two of eleven United Through Sport South Africa beneficiaries who have been selected to represent their province in hockey and rugby.

ELEVEN children who are participating in United Through Sport South Africa’s programmes in Nelson Mandela Bay have been selected to represent their province (states) in either rugby or hockey.

“We are exceptionally proud of these young sport stars who always give their best on the field. Nurturing talent from a young age is crucial for the development of the children and we pride ourselves in unlocking sporting opportunities for the talented children who participate in our programmes,” said United Through Sport South Africa Director Nick Mould.

Currently 140 children across Nelson Mandela Bay participate in United Through Sport’s Junior School of Excellence (JSE) programme. The programme offers an additional two hours of teaching and coaching every day after school – providing extra academic support in Maths and English, further sports coaching, life skills classes and personal mentoring. Deserving children from the JSE are then selected for our Senior School of Excellence Programme (SSE), for placement at some of the top participating high schools in Nelson Mandela Bay.

At Astra Primary School three boys were selected for the EP Hockey Under-13 team: Caylan Fouché (C team), Trent Gunn (B team) and Coby Jonas (C team). In addition, Caleb Gaseba – also from Astra Primary School – was selected for the EP Hockey Under-14 A team. In the Under-14 B team Sachin Padayachee was selected to represent his school, Alexander Road High School.

Claredon Park pupil Wayvin Meyer made the EP Hockey Under-13 A team, while fellow school mate Keenan Martin had been selected for the final round of the EP Rugby Trials which will be held in Bloemfontein later this month, where the A and B teams are selected.

At St. George’s Primary School Keanu van Niekerk made the EP Hockey Under 13-B team and Clireez Brugh made the EP Hockey Under-13 B team.

In the United Through Sport’s Senior School of Excellence Programme, Kiara Meyer from Alexander Road High School made the Hockey Under 18-A team, as well as Kyra Jurgens from Pearson High School.

United Through Sport Graduate Keeps His Eye On The Ball

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UNITED Through Sport graduate Adrian Pretorius had a ball photographing a sports tournament in Zwide recently.

On an assignment for Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, he was tasked to photograph the tournament that was organised by two Dutch volunteer coaches from the university who is working at United Through Sport in Nelson Mandela Bay as part of their Sport Studies internship.

Adrian, 18, matriculated from Victoria Park High School in 2017 – the same year that he received his own camera from his older brothers, twins Ashwell and Ashwin, who run Ashtwinz Photography.

Adrian, who is the youngest sibling in his family, has been working for his brothers as photographer and assistant photographer throughout his high school career.

“I enjoy photography very much, as you get to meet and talk to new people all the time,”.

Currently working as photographer and studying to improve his Admission Point Score (APS) for university, Adrian was very excited to get the sports tournament assignment through a recommendation from United Through Sport Director Nick Mould.

“I loved working with the children, photographing them and seeing their interaction with the volunteers and coaches during the tournament. Sport is the best way to stay healthy and fit,” said Adrian.

Joira Vieira, one of the Dutch volunteers that Adrian photographed, said he was very professional on the day of the holiday camp, and that everyone loved the photographs he took.

Adrian, who went to Astra Primary School, currently plays Premier League club hockey and was in the first hockey team at Victoria Park High School for two years in a row.

While he admitted that he only started to play hockey in high school to “meet girls”, he soon fell in the love with the sport.

“I love hockey – when you play, you are so focusedon the sport, and what to do next. In that moment it is all that counts,” 

United Through Sport regularly engages in employing former beneficiaries, whether on a full-time or part-time basis, to assist in the organisation’s programmes.

Several Senior School of Excellence graduates, who remain in Nelson Mandela Bay to study or work, conduct weekly mentorship classes at different high schools to assist younger children in the programme to cope with the challenges of high school, as well as to offer academic tutoring after school.

United Through Sport Director Nick Mould concludes:

“This is part of United Through Sport’s commitment to help our beneficiaries with the transition from school into the working world and becoming a meaningful contributor to society.”

Maths Whizz Scoops Second Scholarship Prize

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RAKING in close to R100 000 worth of tertiary tuition scholarships is as easy as 1, 2, 3…

This is true in the case of Chadleigh Ownhouse, a Grade 12 learner from Alexander Road High School, who has for a second year in a row came in the top three of his age group at the annual Rhodes University Mathematics Experience (RUME).
Chadleigh, 16, is a participant in United Through Sport’s Senior School of Excellence Programme and has been a beneficiary of United Through Sport’s programmes for the past five years.
At the RUME, which was hosted in Grahamstown on February 16, he competed against representatives from around 30 other schools in the Eastern Cape. He recently heard that he scored second overall in the Grade 11 to 12 category after completing a mini-Olympiad (20-question maths competition) during the RUME.
“Maths is actually very easy to me. It involves a lot of problem solving and creative thinking. You have to be innovative in the way you solve the problems,” Chadleigh, who lives in Bethelsdorp Extension 22, says.
Chadleigh is no stranger to performing well at the RUME competition, as he last year came first in his age group during the mini-Olympiad. Combining the two years’ scholarship prizes, he has accumulated almost R100 000 worth of tertiary tuition scholarships for studying at Rhodes University in 2018.
This gifted learner has not made up his mind yet on his future career aspirations but is leaning towards a BSc degree in Microbiology.
He is also competing in the South African Maths Olympiad and enjoys Advanced Programme Mathematics as a seventh subject.
His parents, Andrea and Neil, motivate him to always do his best and are very proud of his most recent achievements. When he is not studying, he enjoys playing tennis, squash and chess.