By Linathi Nomntsetse
C.M. Vellem Primary School organised a sports tournament on 6 September for 10 of Makhanda’s schools to play soccer, netball, and chess.
Kicking off the Soccer tournament were Tantyi Primary, C.M. Vellem Primary, Samuel Ntsiko Primary, D.D Siwisa Primary, Samuel Ntlebi and Ntaba Maria. The sports tournament had a good turnout, and Emergency Medical Services were on standby for safety purposes.
C.M. Vellem school principal, Khululikhaya Mfecane said the tournament aimed to revive school children’s love of sports. The ten-school sports tournament was the first of its kind, and Mfecane said he hopes to grow the tournament and host more schools in the future. Mfecane also highlighted that the decision to host a school tournament was made to save children from drug use. “Children are becoming involved in drugs because there are no activities to keep them busy, so we thought organising a tournament would save them from bad influences,” he said.
Soccer Tournament
The tournament’s opening match was C.M. Vellem versus Tantyi Primary, which ended in a draw of 0-0. The second match was far from boring as D.D. Siwisa’s Simamkele Ntombana scored the tournament’s first goal, followed by D.D. Siwisa’s Sandile Adam. The match was concluded by Ntombana, who scored again and completed his brace. The game ended with a score line of 3-0 to D.D. Siwisa.
The third match was Samuel Ntsiko versus Samuel Ntlebi, a game that ended in a draw, as most games that followed ended with a draw of 0-0. In the tournament’s final stage, the match had to be decided on penalties and the Soccer tournament winners were Ntaba Maria.
Netball Tournament
After dominating in the Soccer tournament, Ntaba Maria was victorious again in the Netball tournament, winning the final match against C.M. Vellem by 7-5. Ntaba Maria took first position overall, followed by C.M Vellem in second position and D.D. Siwisa in third place.
In the Chess tournament, the finalists were Samuel Ntlebi and C.M Vellem. The match decider was not played between the two teams as they were both deemed to be winners.
