Dreamfields

In July South Africa will host the Vitality Netball World Cup for the very first time and at Dreamfields we've been working hard to bring the excitement of the event closer to our coaches. Dumisani Chauke is the assistant coach for the Spar Proteas and she's been running workshops for Dreamfields teachers and community coaches up and down the country. As someone who grew up in the rural area of Malamulele in Limpopo, Dumisani is all too aware of the challenges children from these communities face. Her connection with our rural coaches has had a strong impact and we look forward to working together for years to come.

Ontshepe Mohlolo who goes to Letsamaile Primary in Mpumalanga has just come back from the primary schools national athletics championships in Pietermaritzburg with a silver medal. She was part of the Mpumalanga under-11 relay team that finished second. Dreamfields introduced DreamLeague sport at Letsamaile in 2017. Ontshepe joined the netball programme and also tried out a whole range of events in athletics – high jump, long jump and sprinting. She reached the provincial finals in 2022. “I decided my next step must be to reach the Nationals,” she says. “I made that promise to my mother and now I have kept it.”

Sibongile Mankayi, a herdsman in Twecu in the rural Eastern Cape, was determined that the young people in his area should have the joy of football in their lives - even if they had no kit, no boots and just a couple of balls. He started Bakania FC and kids flocked to join. When this was profiled in Daily Maverick an old friend of Dreamfields got in touch to offer the team kit, boots and balls. We delivered the DreamBags in May and the impact has been swift. Less than two months later Bakania won its first trophy in a tough tournament in East London and qualified to play in another competition in Durban. Small steps towards big dreams ...

Two footballers who came through our system, Junior Mdletshe from KwaMsane in northern KZN, and Zidane Standers from De Aar in the Northern Cape, were selected for the national under-17 team’s training camp. They’ve come a long way since they began playing DreamLeague football in primary school. Junior was scouted by Amazulu in 2020 while playing for Siyathuthuka Primary in our 60-school project sponsored by FAN from Belgium. Zidane caught the eye of Orlando Pirates and has been with the club since 2022. Remember their names – you are going to hear a lot about them.