LAUREUS YES YOUTH LEADERS CELEBRATED
Photo – CT YES: Marlene Coetzee-George (Laureus Sport for Good Foundation SA Trustee), graduate Taahirah Matthew, Elana Meyer, graduates Jill Benting, Abongile Qasana, Rudi van der Poel with Dan Nicholl and Iain Banner (Laureus Sport for Good Foundation SA Trustee)
Cape Town, December 2014 – The 2014 Laureus Youth Empowerment Through Sport (YES) programme concluded with a series of December celebrations in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. Laureus Ambassadors, Elana Meyer, Butch James, Natalie du Toit, John Robbie, Cynthia Tshaka, Dan Nicholl and cyclist and YES fundraiser Grant Lottering, got together to applaud the 30 graduates who have successfully completed the year’s programme aimed at developing youth leaders from a range of sport for social change organisations across South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique and Ghana, most of which are supported by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.
Photo – DBN YES: Butch James, graduate Noluthando Msweli and Gita Carroll (Laureus Sport for Good Foundation SA)
The YES programme is one of the exciting ways that the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is empowering and inspiring youth leaders in Africa to use sport for the good of their communities. Successful graduates have been equipped with technical, vocational, entrepreneurship and life skills needed to develop sustainable livelihoods and initiate social change.
Addressing the graduates in Johannesburg, inspirational Paralympics and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist swimmer, Natalie du Toit, commented, “Sport has made me the person I am today and I’m proud to be congratulating these leaders of tomorrow. This programme will help them achieve their personal goals and play a role in transforming their communities”.
“YES has changed my life in many ways. It has given me opportunities I never thought possible and a second chance in life. Most of all I’m now part of the amazing Laureus family”, said graduate Bongiwe Nhleko. Bongiwe manages the Soweto Touch Rugby Association and was selected to attend and speak at the first Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Global Summit in London in 2011.
The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation South Africa currently supports 15 sports-based community initiatives nationwide and since its inception it has raised over R50 million for projects and programmes which have improved the lives of more than 80 000 young people.
Photo – DBN YES2: Graduates Noluthando Msweli and Gabriela Gokova
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