Strike has effected Blitz

After the succesfull World Cup other things have happened in South Africa.
There has been a strike that has made it impossible for Blitz Academy to run the school program for a while since schools in Soweto have been closed.
Mostly workers that works for the government (teachers, hospitals nurses) strikes for better pay and housing allowances. They need 8 percent for the salary increase and R1000 for housing subsidy.
During the strike kids were told not to go to schools and patients had to turn back home with less medication. That is when soldiers where posted to hospitals and clinics to attend the emergencies.
Few teachers did try to help students by forming study groups where they will revise their syllabus and continue with what is left in their studies.
The matric student had suffered more because they were supposed to write their preliminary examination to prepare for the year ending finals.
Due to the strike the government says there will be no September holidays for students so that they can recover with their studies.
The strike was suspended for 21 days and if the government don't meet the workers demands they will go further with strike again.
Wire

Small Gothia Cup in Soweto

In 2004, after participating in the program Kick Off with IF Väster, we had the opportunity to participate in the Gothia Cup, the biggest youth tournament in the world.
This tournament inspired us to have a flagship project at Blitz Academy with the same focuse.
In 2009 we hosted the first such tournament at a small scale and we called it Soweto Football Festival (SFF).
The first tournament had 36 team registering and we used 5 sport field and had 3 days to host the tournament.
We are going to send invitations to teams for the 2nd annual SFF and we will be using the 5 football fields in Soweto around Moletsane. The teams that will participate will be 8 per division and we are planning to have 5 divisions.
We will be playing for 3 days on the 24 to the 26 of September most of the teams are the ones that participated in our first SFF.
We are confident that we will have a successful event.
Tomorrow, on Friday 3rd September, we are meeting the leaders to brief and give tasks for preparation of SFF.

”Blitz makes a difference”

My name is Itumeleng Kau and I live in Naledi ext 2 (Rdp). I live with my Mom, brother and my two daughters.
I think Blitz is a good thing for the kids because it keeps kids away from drugs, alcohol, teenage pregnancy ,crime and other challenges that youth face.
Since I'm a parent my self and have grown up in Soweto , I have a clear picture of how the youth of my community live, so Blitz makes a difference by teaching them different sports and also the responsibility towards their health.

What motivated me to be part of Blitz is that I want to make a difference in my community. Been part of the Blitz family exposed me to other things like sport and women empowerment. Working the mental challenged people is fun yet sometimes challenging and you can also be attached to them.
I love what we do at Blitz even thou I would not be there all the time. When ever I'm free I will dedicate my time there (Blitz).

Cold winter in Soweto

Winter is still on and this week we have -1 and -4.
But that does not keep the kids away from the school holiday program that we (Blitz) do with the Hub (Gauteng provincial government) in partnership.
We had +/- 40 kids from around Moletsane where our office is based. Due to this cold we don't have a stable number, sometimes we will have 12-15 but that does not let us down.
Since its cold we couldn't have the Grunden Bois of Soweto because there were on winter recess. Our training with them (Grundens) will resume on the last week of August.
Wire and Stapia

Hlompho came back for more sport

Hlompho Molefe

13 years old boy living in Soweto on location called Tladi.

I go to a school called Lumelang primary school and I live with my Mother, three brothers and my granny.

Sport is my love more especially since I was involved in a Blitz program last year. During that time I was exposed different sporting codes like handball and basketball.

I think sport is a good thing for us youth.

Since I was in the first group and I liked it , I decided to come back for more and I was welcomed warmly by our coaches. Doing sport gives me an opportunity to get call-ups from different national teams.

I enjoy basketball.

The coaches are nice and they have patience. All in all the coaches make doing\playing sports fun.

Lesedi likes Inabandy and Blitz

My name is Lesedi Mochocho , I'm 10 years old boy and I live with my Mom, Dad and my little sister in Naledi (Soweto).

I attend school at Mochochonono primary school and I'm at Grade 3.

I love soccer and I enjoy playing basketball. For the duration of the school program I had fun learning different sporting codes such as Inabandy and netball. We grew up knowing that netball is for sisi's (girls) but now we know that sports can be played by everyone.

I always can't wait for Tuesday so that I can go to the field to learn, play and meet my coaches again.

I wish to come back again when Blitz do the school program.

Please don't stop doing the training.

I love Blitz.

Stapia loves the Blitz work

My name is Mpho "Stapia" Mokoena.

I stay in Moletsane in Soweto with my older brother and the other brother is in Protea Glen. Grow up playing football like any kid in the street and never reached higher level.

I spend most, if not all, my days at Blitz, doing files or teaching kids other sporting codes.

Since Blitz is doing what I love most, "sports", I'll always love sports. I do voluntary work at Blitz and so I do outreach programmes.

Blitz is important to me cause we do what we love. I wish I could tell about the future but I can not. Blitz can have a big impact in Soweto if we work harder than now.

I have few friends Sweden and it feels great.

Bafana's exit from World Cup is not a surprise for me, cause it was to big for them.