It's the middle of winter...MCM Sports is thriving!!!

Aletia Grundling and MCM sports coaches

Girl's soccer game

Boy's sports drills

Growing up in the distressed communities of Mbekweni and Paarl East in Paarl is not easy.  Active street gangs, drug and alcohol abuse and crime are rampant...and a big temptation for our young people.  Additionally, the lack of strong role models continue to present challenges to the next generation.  With five years of experience, now, Monte Christo Miqlat (MCM) has learned that a strong sports program can be a very effective deterrent and positive activity for the youth in our communities.  Through Coaching 1000, the backbone of our program, we have raised up quality post matric youth coaches (several of whom are pictured above with MCM CEO-Aletia Grundling) who help to teach both sports skills and life skills.  Last year we expanded our Coaching 1000 program into 6 local primary schools and 1 high school.  Here we partner with the physical training teacher in their work with the children.  We provide assistance in basic warm-up activities and then assist with sports drills in a variety of sports (i.e. athletics, cricket, soccer, rugby and netball) during school hours.  Also, two weeks before the end of the term, we assist in testing the children by drilling them on various skills that they have learned that term which helps the teacher with the grading of each child.  With 9 youth coaches, we are scheduled in 25 physical training classes and support approximately 750 children each school week.  After school, in the afternoons, we assist the same school children with additional training, specifically for soccer skills.  This involves soccer skills development, drills, life skills and club development.  And all of this is designed to provide an opportunity to hundreds of children to lead positive lives and give them healthy alternatives to the aforementioned street activities.  MCM wishes to thank Emerge Poverty Free (http://www.emergepovertyfree.org) for their support for our Sports Program these past five years, and for creating the opportunity for us to work with the Westhill Endowment (http://ourchildrenschildren.org.uk/Projects) this coming year.  Thank you for partnering with us to touch hundreds of young kid's lives in Mbekweni and Paarl East!