Photo Credit: Cricket South Africa
Cricket South Africa (CSA) and KFC will be celebrating the country’s largest development programme, KFC Mini-Cricket at this season’s edition of the KFC Mini-Cricket national seminar.
Over 80 KFC Mini-Cricket volunteer coaches and coordinators will be making their way to the annual National Seminar held in Limpopo from the 3rd and 6th October 2021.
KFC Mini-Cricket national seminar makes its return after a year-long halt due to the Covid19 pandemic. The annual seminar aims to not only empower and educate coaches but also to honour their contribution in their respective communities.
“The Mini-Cricket programme has over the year been a launch-pad for buddying cricket talent in the country. It is responsible for producing some of the cricket household names that continue to do us proud. This seminar sets to tone for more development work, which is in line with CSA’s mission” KFC CSI Manager, Andra Ferreira Nel commented.
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has affected many industries and posed the same challenges for the KFC Mini-Cricket. This season’s theme is “Umvuselelo” a Nguni word meaning to reawaken and will see games being played on a more regular and consistent basis once again. With kids returning to play across the country, there is great excitement to have all children play the game they love.
“On behalf of Cricket South Africa, I would like to sincerely thank KFC for this partnership that has delivered a lot of value to cricket and facilitated the reach of the sport of cricket, especially to areas that really require grassroots support. I would also like to thank the coaches and the coordinators who continue to put it all together year-in and year-out, including everyone else who is involved in making this a viable vehicle for nurturing cricket talent at school and community levels. This partnership has allowed all of us to collectively support this noble endeavour of expanding cricket’s reach,” said Mr Pholetsi Moseki, CSA’s Acting Chief Executive Officer.
Since inception, the programme has seen more than 2,5 million kids participating in the KFC Mini-Cricket programme and continues to be a driving force for strong national teams. As KFC and CSA cement 12 years of partnership, the programme has experienced exponential growth with the number of kids taking part increasing from around 89 000 per season to over 126 000. Years
Nel elaborates on the exciting expectations of the country’s pre-eminent grassroots sporting development programme.
“As a brand we take the theme of ‘umvuselelo’ to heart. This is a time for reconnection, rebuilding and coming together as a nation under the incredible KFC Mini-Cricket programme.
The grassroot programme has stood tall against some of our recent societal challenges. We thank our committed partners, CSA, and the respective KFC Mini-Cricket programme structures for their unwavering support to ensure that kids in all communities are introduced to the beautiful game of cricket. We look forward to the KFC Mini-Cricket season ahead and we will work together to ensure a bright foundation is laid for our future heroes,” said Andra Ferreira Nel, KFC CSI Manager, KFC South Africa.
“This year’s KFC Mini-Cricket national seminar also comes at a time when KFC, South Africa’s most loved brand, is celebrating 50 years of sharing its famous Original Recipe with South Africa. The KFC Mini-Cricket coaches and coordinators are the unsung heroes in the programme and are part of the reason the programme is a success. We want to make sure that those unsung heroes in KFC Mini-Cricket are part of the celebrations,” adds Nel.
The KFC Mini-Cricket programme continues to be of the most impactful development programmes in the South African sporting landscape and goes far beyond the game of cricket. The sport brings youngsters from across diverse backgrounds together and not only introduces them to the game of cricket but also allows them to get active.
For more information on the KFC Mini-Cricket programme visit https://order.kfc.co.za/minicricket/minicrickethome or contact CSA at (011) 880 – 2810.
