Visitors see impact of open space development for sport

A group of students from Stellenbosch University and Cardiff University in Wales visited Napier Close Park on Thursday 9th March to see the work of the Unchain the Plain Foundation in action. PHOTO: Samantha Lee-Jacobs

A group of 18 Welsh students visited the Portlands area to see first hand the impact of sport development.

The students, who are part of a group of 40 in the country on a nine-day field trip, were brought to the area by Stellenbosch University, organized through the geography department.

The group from Cardiff University was joined by students from Stellenbosch University and Prof Ronnie Donaldson and Musfiqah Majiet from the Geography Department.

Majiet was tasked with finding an organization focused on sports and community building. That’s when she found the Unchain the Plain Foundation.

“I searched Facebook and Google to find someone and that’s where I came across Unchain the Plain. They really match everything the students were looking for,” says Majiet.

dr Joe Williams, who led the Welsh students, says: “You can tell a lot about culture through sport and through being involved with sport.”

Williams says the students all study human geography and planning in Cardiff. They plan to take part in a community project focused on sports and culture.

Unchain the Plain champion Morne Press was joined by some of the Foundation’s founding members and other volunteers to meet the students at Napier Close Park in Portlands.

Here, students could ask questions about their work and their program.

The students could also play netball, football, rugby and cricket on the large field.

Press, which is also part of a community group working to create a safer environment for the neighborhood through a variety of projects — including surveillance cameras, plants and reclaiming open space — says her initiatives are self-funded.

Unchain the Plain’s Juven Rittles says taking back space through sport creates a holistic approach to disrupting antisocial behavior. “When kids play, their parents come and watch, so it becomes a package deal,” he says.

As one of the foundation’s pioneers, Press received a donation of exercise equipment from the foundation to help get children back into exercise.

Their self-financed branded equipment includes a variety of balls and racquets. For more information about the foundation or how you can support their initiatives, visit their Facebook page: Unchain the Plain.

You can find a video report on our Facebook page: People’s Post.