Greater Stellenbosch - A legacy in football beyond 2010

2010 project is creating the future of football in Stellenbosch

The development of a football legacy in Stellenbosch, Cape Town, is underway. The town is one of the many communities in South Africa that will be welcoming half a million expected visitors to the football World Cup in 2010. As well as the use of the exemplary facilities at the University of Stellenbosch’s Coetzenburg Sports Campus, the Greater Stellenbosch 2010 Project has begun to develop the sport throughout the community. It has also started to educate locals and visitors about the history of football in the region.

The indoor and outdoor facilities at the campus are state of the art, and include a sports-medicine facility, sports stadiums, fully-equipped gym and the Stellenbosch University Sports Performance Institute (SUSPI). The sports campus is well equipped to host visiting teams during the World Cup next year, and in the future.

The Stellenbosch legacy development projects
"Greater Stellenbosch is not just about hosting teams and promoting football for the World Cup. We are here to lay a foundation for football to become a significant part of our future," says Lize Esterhuizen of the Greater Stellenbosch 2010 Project.

The University and municipality have been busy with several projects, developing the town into a football-friendly space.

The Stars in Their Eyes (SITE) event is a football clinic that has been hosted at SUSPI for the third year in a row. This year, local coaches from nearby communities were instructed by 17 professional coaches from the Netherlands, as well as by senior lecturers from the Royal Netherlands Football Academy. The ability of the local coaches was then put to the test when children from the local communities arrived for coaching.

Another football project is the Mayoral Cup, which was hosted for the first time in 2008. The event showcased 30 teams from local primary schools, and was aimed at developing the sport amongst the youth, and at building excitement for the up-and-coming World Cup tournament. The cup was a great success, much to the delight of the Stellenbosch Sports and Recreation Association (SSRA), the Local Football Association (LFA) and the Western Cape Education Department.

A football centre, as well as a football academy, is currently under development for the disadvantaged youth of Stellenbosch. These initiatives are located at the Lentelus Sports Grounds and are part of the youth initiative of the Oversearching Strategic Plan (OSP) of Stellenbosch University. Projects involving the history of football are also underway, and are set to inspire locals to develop an interest in, and a passion for, the sport.

Transforming Stellenbosch and making football accessible to everyone
A further project is aimed at increasing and easing access into the major centres of Stellenbosch and surrounds. This is intended to encourage a football culture among local citizens – one that will carry on into the future.