Regular Friday cricket clinics will help the Eastern Cape to produce the next generation of international cricketers like Makhaya Ntini. The former cricket star’s cricket academy will use the Fun Fridays School Cricket Clinic Campaign to search for new talent from Mdantsane to mentor and motivate.
“In terms of Algoa FM’s corporate social investment; education and sport play a key role. We have seen in the history of South Africa, the important role education has played in being a catalyst of growth and development in the country and we have seen first-hand how sport has created a unity amongst the different communities,” says managing director, Dave Tiltmann. “Education and sport therefore go hand-in-hand in building this country. It is for this reason, that we have decided that as the regional radio station broadcasting within the Eastern Cape for the past 28 years to invest in informing our listeners about the impact the Mkhaya Ntini Cricket Academy will make in this region.”
Ntini’s life-long dream was to groom children from previously disadvantaged backgrounds through the game of cricket and education. Having been spotted at a young age as an inexperienced player, he went on to become the first black test cricketer in South Africa and the only black player who has played more than 101 test matches for the South African team. Upon retirement Makhaya had a vision to invest his time to nurture black cricketers and to develop a cricket academy. Ntini said, “Each child has a Dream to achieve – we just need to create the platforms!”