A sports initiative aimed at keeping the at-risk youth of Addo off the streets and giving them a positive outlet through soccer has received a much-needed boost with the help of the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA).
The Addo Football Youth Academy (AFYA), a youth soccer development programme which includes two girl teams, received R180,000 worth of equipment, including boots, balls, uniforms and other gear, through the CGA’s social responsibility initiative Orange Heart.
The handover, which took place at AFYA’s homebase of AV Bukani Primary School, also saw the academy receive new goalposts and a storage container to house all their new equipment.
Founded in 2014 by Addo resident Elvis Lali, AFYA was aimed at stimulating children from the impoverished townships around Addo in a healthy way and keep them out of trouble in an area where crime and drug and alcohol abuse is rife, while lacklustre pupils achieve below average grades at school.
“The area where I live is a soccer-loving community,” Lali said.
“I wanted to give the children something to do.
“It helps the kids a lot because they see they have a future through sport.”
Over the years, AFYA has managed to produce world-class talent, like Siphosethu Niyabo, who played in Argentina’s Primera Division between 2017 and 2019.
As the academy is based in one of the country’s biggest citrus production and export regions, CGA identified an opportunity to make a positive contribution and uplift the poorer communities in the region.
Orange Heart project manager Sive Silo said they were proud to be associated with initiatives like AFYA.
“We’re proud to support the project.
“The work being done here is truly inspirational, because you can see it makes a difference in the leaners’ lives,” Silo said.
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