Youth Sport Initiative
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Youth Sport Initiative
Stellenbosch University (SU) has traditionally been a rugby stronghold, with the Maties first team having won South Africa’s Varsity Cup competition three years in a row. The focus now is on soccer. . The University is using the beautiful game to express its strategic commitment to human development.
Football forms the mainstay of the Youth Sport Initiative (YSI), which focuses on promoting physical and psychological wellbeing through sport. The project comprises a new soccer centre, a football academy and an after-school programme.
The Centre is being constructed at the Lentelus grounds next to the Goldfields residence in Stellenbosch. It will benefit the people of Stellenbosch and beyond for a long time to come. It will boast a number of soccer pitches of various sizes and with different surfaces to suit several versions of the game.
For talented young soccer players, the road to a possible career in football can be long and hard – especially if they lack the necessary opportunities. The Stellenbosch Soccer Academy will help youngsters develop and showcase their skills. The Academy is looking to partner with professional soccer clubs – local and foreign – in order to provide the best possible support to young footballers.
Involving children in after-school sports and life-skills training improves both their sporting and academic performance. They get the chance to learn and grow in a safe, supportive environment. The Stellenbosch Soccer Centre will play host to such a programme. It will be an extension of a pilot project currently underway. The goal is to produce well-rounded individuals with strong social and academic skills.
The YSI is a joint project of the Stellenbosch University Sport Performance Institute (SUSPI), the Centre for Human Performance Science and Maties Sport.