Sports in South Africa with Projects Abroad

  South Africa

Kwa-Zulu Natal

Durations of Program: 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, 3-6 months and 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 5-8 weeks
Dates: All Year Round (you set the start and end dates)

Description: Come teach sports in South Africa!

Children growing up in the townships have few facilities for stimulating sports. Opportunities are severely limited for both playing sports and learning new sports, despite the best efforts of local volunteers and community leaders. Parents are desperate to keep their kids off the streets out of school hours, away from drug usage and peer pressure.

Giving their children the opportunity to participate in sports allows them to learn important lessons in working as a team, anger management and prioritizing a healthy lifestyle.

Volunteers can help to create a sporting environment and provide much needed support to local staff. Many schools within the townships are open to after school activities; coaching
basketball, soccer, softball, cricket, rugby almost every sport you can think of is going on somewhere!

Dedicated local volunteers need support in the form of an extra pair of hands, and bags of enthusiasm. Volunteers are also encouraged to help organize and referee friendly matches at the weekends and in the evenings any way you can get involved is welcome!

Volunteering as a School Sports Coach in South Africa

Cape Town has a wide variety of schools, whose facilities and demographic largely mirrors the wealth and background of the areas in which they are based. Projects Abroad volunteers center their efforts on the Cape Flats Townships, working with underprivileged Black and Cape Colored communities in the Vrygrond, Grassy Park and Lavender Hill area.

The schools here are all government run, and as such, physical education has regrettably been removed from the curriculum due to budget cutbacks. Government-funded schools no longer offer this subject because they cannot afford to pay a sports teacher out of their own small budget. For this reason, volunteers are invaluable to these schools as they can provide the important physical education lessons without the extra costs.

As a Projects Abroad volunteer coach, you wont need previous coaching experience, but you will need a real passion for sports, and the drive and initiative to lead a sports session with a group of children without always having the backup of another teacher. Volunteers will often coach together, and will have the full support of the teaching staff, though both human and material resources are in short supply.

Dont worry if you dont have UEFA grade soccer coaching skills or arent an Olympic athlete simply organizing a game of softball or running a circuit training session can help these children improve their fitness levels or ability to work as a team. The program could also combine elements of physical education with other aspects of health, such as nutrition and personal hygiene. Youve got an almost completely blank canvas and a captive audience of children eager to get involved!

Since school takes up the childrens day, after school activities run in the afternoons from 3-5pm. Many community leaders and schools themselves are keen to have volunteers help out with their after school clubs. These present a real challenge for coaches, with anything from 5 to 30 kids turning up each day with hugely varied skill levels and little regularity. The one thing the children all share is a love for sport and a real desire to get involved, and whatever your particular sport, by helping to keep these clubs going, youll be making a real contribution.

Volunteering as a Water Sports Coach in South Africa

Cape Town is famous for its surf spots, and this attracts many volunteers who can already surf and those keen to learn. Surfing is also a great way of bringing young children into a learning environment and giving them a passion for sport.

Projects Abroad volunteers work alongside local schools from the Cape Flats townships, where a number of our other teaching and care placements are based, and where most sports volunteers will be working during school hours. Projects Abroad volunteers make it possible for children from these schools to regularly visit Muizenburg beach, just a short train ride away, in order to participate in a grass-roots water sports project.

Children who grow up in the townships may never have been to the beach, despite its proximity, and most certainly wont be able to swim. By organizing regular trips to the beach with these children, and gradually teaching them to swim and then to surf, you will be giving them an opportunity and a new passion that they may never have had access to otherwise.

Projects Abroad provides all the necessary equipment; we simply need more volunteers to ensure that we are able to offer this opportunity.

Since school takes up the childrens day, this sports project runs in the afternoons from 3-6pm on selected days of the week. Volunteers do not need to be experienced surfers, but do need to be strong swimmers. We are looking for volunteers who are keen and enthusiastic to get involved with mentoring, coaching and organizing all aspects of this valuable community water-sports project.

Whichever project you choose, your initiative and enthusiasm can always be put to good use helping to develop sports initiatives and programs in Cape Town. In order for children to get the most out of projects or after school clubs such as these, they need to be well thought out, with bags of good ideas for lesson plans to get the kids thinking, learning and improving their fitness while having fun, and volunteers are vital to provide a fresh stream of ideas to enable this.

Equally, you could get involved in the logistics of developing the project such as fundraising, paperwork and future planning. Any assistance you can give to ensure the future success of these projects will be most welcome a real challenge!

Highlights: Projects Abroad is based in the bustling cosmopolitan city of Cape Town, in the heart of the Western Cape. From it's beginnings as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town has grown into the third largest city in South Africa.

Volunteers work within Cape Town and smaller outlying towns of the Western Cape, teaching English and many other subjects in schools. Volunteers can also choose to join care projects in orphanages, children's hospitals and crèches in Cape Town and the surrounding area.

By living and working in these mixed-race communities you'll start to understand the complexities of South Africa's past and present, and help to give the younger generation the tools they need for the future.

Sports volunteers work further a long the coast near Durban at our children's activity camp and Conservation volunteers are located in the north of South Africa in game reserves on the border with Botswana.

Travel and Tourism in South Africa

Living in Cape Town is the perfect base for the huge variety of surrounding attractions; from the infamous Table Mountain with its unique species of plants and animals which forms the dramatic backdrop to the city, to world class vineyards and stunning beaches with multiple surf spots, to the heady mix of trendy establishments at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, finally stretching on to the foreboding beauty of Cape Point.

Inside the city bowl lives a population with a hugely varied demographic, both in terms of race, religion, language, wealth, and interest. Whatever your sport, your hobby, taste in music, preferred choice of dinner. you'll find it in Cape Town, whose cultural calendar overflows with events to suit every taste.

In terms of travel after your placement, South Africa's attractions will spoil you. With mountains in the east and centre of South Africa, you could be climbing or skiing one day and on the beaches in Durban the next. South Africa is the home of adventure travel, boasting the highest bungee jump in the world. The Game Reserves where you can view the Big Five are also an essential part of the South African experience. Combine these activities with beautiful beaches and traditional sundowners after a safari and you're in for either a thrilling or a relaxing time; the choice is yours!

All accommodation is organized, paid for and monitored by Projects Abroad. All project placements are regularly visited and checked. We require high standards of supervision and accommodation, and these are verified just before you arrive in South Africa.

In addition, this project offers the opportunity to become fully immersed in the culture in a manner which even the most hardened of backpackers could never hope to do.

Qualifications: No experience or qualifications are required.

Cost in US$: From US$ 2,545 up

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: Open minded with a desire to travel.

Age Range: 16-70

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to South Africa Independently

Typically Participants Work in Groups

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Exit Debriefing Abroad
• Re-Entry Debriefing at Home
• Alumni Network

Projects Abroad's Mission Statement: As part of the global economy, Projects Abroad helps create local employment wherever we send volunteers. Employing local staff overseas and using their talents and knowledge is important to us. This local knowledge and support enables the organization to channel the skills of the volunteers from more affluent countries to regions around the world where they are needed. Volunteers also learn from their placements and the people they meet, and they gain experience in a chosen field. In the 21st century, we believe this mutual respect is what cultural exchange is all about.

Year Founded: 1992