Play Handball Supercup 2018 in Benoni

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 20^th of October 2018 at the Sinaba Sports Stadium, Daveyton, Gauteng.

The aim of the PLAY HANDBALL Supercup series is to reach out with sport to the youth, bring children from various schools and cultural backgrounds together and to enhance environmental awareness among our youth in combination with playing handball. More than 150 children from 14 school teams from Benoni, Soweto and Parktown competed in an U12 and U14 mix-team tournament as well as environmental tasks. In the U12 group the school teams of Kgalema and Kuzimisela Primary School dominated the competition and competed in the final, where Kgalema Primary School scored first and Kuzimisela second place. Mdelwa Hlongwane Primary School from Soweto came 3^rd place.

In the U14 mix group both teams of the German School Johannesburg (DSJ) and the Ekurhuleni Academy played in the semi-finals. The final was then afterwards decided between DSJ I and DSJ II, in which DSJ I scored better and won the Supercup.

Ranking of the tournament:

U12 Mix Tournament:
1^st Place: Kgalema Primary School, 2^nd Place: Kuzimisela Primary School, 3^rd Place: Mdelwa Hlongwane Primary School, 4^th Place: DSJ
U14 Mix Tournament:
1^st Place: DSJ I, 2^nd Place: DSJ II, 3^rd and 4^th Place: Ekurhuleni Academy; Other teams: Inkatha-Ka-Zulu Primary School I and II, Dumehlezi Primary School, Mdelwa Hlongwane Primary School, Kuzimisela Primary School

Besides exciting handball games, participants were encouraged to keep the venue clean. In this respect PHZA cooperates with Waste-ED, an environmental organisation that leverages the event with their environmental 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 making sure there was proper waste separation. With 200 participants, the organizers were able to compost 10kgs of food waste, recycle 7kgs of paper and plastic picked up around the venue and diverted 50kgs of non-recyclables from landfill by making 20 ecobricks on the day. “Waste is a resource, all we need to do is change our view to see it as that” – this was the message that the organizers were able to share with the young players through the ‘resource’ recycling stations at this year’s PLAY HANDBALL tournament! – Candice Mostert (Waste-ED). Kids that took part in the recycling and clean-up activities at the tournament got the chance to enter a raffle and win exciting prices, and the two most environmental active boy and girl got rewarded with an own ball and training suit to take home.

The whole handball & environment programme emphasis is on educating young South Africans to live more sustainably and environmentally responsible within their communities. Therefore on the 17^th and 18^th of October 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. One exemplar of the manual was given by Ms Nicola Scholl, Founder of PHZA, to the President of the South African Handball Federation Mr. Ally Pole, who honoured the event with his presents.

The local partner and co-ordinator Brain Bongani Mdhlalose from Sport Initiative Projects values the PLAY HANDBALL Supercup as an event that helps building a healthy and active community. “We all had a great experience especially the community of Daveyton. PHZA and all the volunteers did an amazing job. There is a demand for such events in the near future as it will help reduce as well criminal activities, substance abuse and raise awareness. We are planning to introduce the same programme with high schools early next year.”

The last Supercup for this year will take place in Cape Town on Saturday, 27^th of October 2018 from 9am to 5 pm at Hindle Road Primary School, Delft, Western Cape.