Using Sport to raise awareness for Climate Change! The PLAY HANDBALL Supercup is unique in its kind and is the first Handball & Environmental Tournament Series in South Africa.

After two successful annual events in 2016 & 2017, with over a thousand children reached from both Cape Town and Johannesburg, PLAY HANDBALL ZA (PHZA), in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), hosted the PLAY HANDBALL Supercup 2018 on the 27^th of October 2018 at Hindle Road Primary School, Delft, Cape Town, South Africa. The aim of the PLAY HANDBALL Supercup series is to reach out with sport to the youth, bring youth from various schools and cultural backgrounds together and to enhance environmental awareness among our youth in combination with playing handball. Just over 150 children from 12 school and community organisation teams from Cape Town and surrounding areas competed in an U14 mixed team tournament as well as environmental activities and tasks.

The competition was touch with Franschhoek Community Sports Centre (FCSC) and Gateway Primary School teams dominating the games during the tournament. These two teams ended up in the Supercup finals, with Franschhoek taking the 1^st Place of the 2018 tournament. Phillip Sihwanya, Development Manager of the Western Province Handball Association, was scouting the players on tournament day and sighted Likhona from FCSC as best player of the day and Kevin from Hindle Road Primary as best goalkeeper. Both players got rewarded with some handball apparel and goodies, as well as entry tickets sponsored by the Two Oceans Aquarium. “The tournament was a lot of fun for our kids, there are not a lot of chances to compete in handball. I hope in the future we could have a Western Cape Handball League”, winner’s team coach Thabang Mphatoe.

Ranking of the U14 Mix tournament:

1^st Place: Franschhoek Community Sports Centre,
2^nd Place: Gateway Primary School,
3^rd Place: Hindle Road Primary School and
4^th Place: German International School;
Other teams that were present: Africa Jam Community Outreach, Levana Primary School, Zerilda Primary School I & II, Masonwabe Primary School, Teen & Child Development, Abedare Primary School, Leiden Primary School and The Hague Primary School.

Apart from the hype of the handball tournament and games, participants were encouraged to keep the venue clean. Therefore, PHZA co-operated with Waste-ED, an environmental organisation that leverages the event with their expertise and know-how. Waste-ED and PHZA work together to ensure that all handball events are hosted in a climate-neutral way. This means zero waste to landfill as well as using reusable or easily recycled local products at the events. On the day of the tournament Waste-ED manned and used their 3 ‘bin’ system station to educate the participants on items being thrown away and ensuring there was proper waste separation. With over 150 participants we were able to compost 5kgs of food waste and dirty paper/ cardboard, recycle 8kgs of clean paper and plastic picked up around the venue and diverted 9kgs of non-recyclables from landfill by making 7 ecobricks (two 5L and five 2L bottles) on the day. The youth that took part in the recycling and clean-up activities at the tournament got the opportunity to enter a raffle and win exciting prizes, and the two most environmental active participants got rewarded as well with entry tickets sponsored by the Two Oceans Aquarium, some handball apparel and goodies. The winning team, Franschhoek Community Sports Centre, received one of the most exciting prizes – a ride each with the aerial-cable car up Table Mountain sponsored by Table Mountain Arial Cableway. “The kids are so excited about this price. Most of them have never been on Table Mountain.”, Coach Thabang. Nicola Scholl, Founder and Director of PLAY HANDBALL, values the tournament series as a successful integration of Education and Sport: “The enjoyment and enthusiasm shown by the children on the handball field and beyond at the eco-trail and recycling station proves that our concept works”.

The whole handball & environment programme emphasis on educating young South Africans to live more sustainably and environmentally responsible within their communities. Therefore, on 13^th, 19^th and 20^th September 2018 teachers and coaches were first empowered with a train-the-trainer workshop in handball coaching and environmental issues to carry out the training back in their respective schools. Educational modules include information on how to use resources, such as water and energy more wisely and how to reduce, reuse and recycle waste. The EDUCATIONAL TRAINING MANUAL FOR BALLGAMES AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION “PLAY FAIR for the ENVIRONMENT!” developed by Play Handball in co-operation with the German Sports University in Cologne was launched at this year’s tournament.

Text: Play Handball News