20 Aug 2022 KFC MINI-CRICKET MEGA FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF MINI CRICKET
JOHANNESBURG: Cricket South Africa (CSA) in partnership with KFC, celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Mini-Cricket programme with a mega-festival on Saturday.
The KFC Mini-Cricket Mega-Festival was for the first time in the history of the programme, held on the same day across the CSA provincial affiliates.
The Mega-Festivals broke their records with over ten thousand kids across South Africa taking part on the day’s proceedings and more than a thousand matches being played simultaneously.
With safety of the kids being a number one priority, inclement weather conditions resulted on several affiliates using alternative venues or calling off the festivities.
St George’s Park and Buffalo Park cricket grounds cancelled the proceedings of the day due to wet fields.
CSA Mass Participation Manager, David Mokopanele, shared his sentiments on the importance and significance of the Mini-Cricket’s 40th Anniversary celebrations and the impact the programme has had on the lives of the children.
“It is without a doubt that Mini-Cricket has had a major impact on the lives of children and communities throughout South Africa.
“Our aim is to create opportunities for all South African children from different backgrounds to play the game we all support and love.
“I would like to thank our partner, KFC, for their commitment and continued support in the development of our game.
“A big thank you to our mini-cricket volunteers, with whom we have managed to grow the largest and longest running development programme in the continent,” Mokopanele concluded.
KFC Marketing Manager Brand and Purpose Andra Ferreria Nel said, “Today’s KFC Mini Cricket Mega- Festival was a great example of how sport creates a platform to level the playing field for our children and unite communities across the country.
“We are proud to be a partner in cricket that affords our youth with an opportunity to play the game they love and gives them level playing fields to achieve their dreams,” Nel said.
For more information on the KFC Mini-Cricket programme, visit https://cricket.co.za/mini-cricket/
For media enquiries, please contact:
Alungile Nyakambi
Cell: 084 204 3689
Email: alungilen@cricket.co.za
ENDS
Issued by: Cricket South Africa – Corporate Communications
ABOUT CRICKET SOUTH AFRICA
Cricket South Africa (CSA), an affiliate of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), is the national governing body for the sport of cricket in South Africa and administers all aspects of South African cricket, men, and women, both in the professional and amateur sphere.
ABOUT KFC MINI-CRICKET
KFC, through their sponsorship of the KFC Mini-Cricket programme, level the playing field and supply kids an opportunity to have fun and get active no matter their background. KFC Mini-Cricket kids, coaches and coordinators have been able to make a serious impact in their communities and become respected leaders. KFC Mini-Cricket is one of the largest grassroots development sports programmes in South Africa and is also an essential building block for learning cricketing basics and entrenching a love for the game. This is the 40th anniversary of Mini-Cricket in South Africa and 14th season of KFC’s sponsorship.
The KFC Mini-Cricket has over 120 000 kids participating in the programme. The kids (boys and girls) are from over 5500 schools that are active in the KFC Mini-Cricket programme and are coached by just under 13000 volunteer coaches. Year on year there are a minimum of 45 000 matches played each year. KFC has sponsored KFC Mini-Cricket since 2010 and in the 2012/13 cricket season KFC became the title sponsor of the KFC T20 Internationals.