The success of the first Fight Against Crime soccer tournament was not measured by the on-pitch entertainment, but by its impact off the field.
The tournament held at Dike Village in December under the auspices of the Ayanda Ncinane Foundation invited teams from the surrounding Mackay’s Nek villages to keep the youth off the streets during the festive season.
“Recently we have had a crime problem in our village and this is because many of the youth have fallen for social ills like drugs and alcohol abuse, resulting in crime. The festive season is often a time when idle youth indulge in substance abuse and we felt sport was a positive way to fight this problem,” said Ayanda Ncinane.
According to Ncinane, they were happy that no major crimes were reported in the surrounding areas during the season and they hoped this would only be the beginning.
“We regard the fact that we managed to get those boys playing as a success. We are now preparing for this year’s tournament and we hope to have more teams involved, even from Komani,” he added.
Eight teams participated last year, which Ncinane said he hoped to increase this year. First place won R2000 plus a soccer ball, second prize was R1200 while third was R800.