Camp aims to lead SA’s youth
ABOUT 250 youth from across the Eastern Cape will descend on Port Alfred today for the annual National Youth Camp.
The event, aimed at teaching youth about social cohesion, leadership and nationbuilding, starts today and ends next Friday.
Started four years ago by the national department of sport and recreation and funded by the provincial Departments of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, the NYC is hosted by each of the nine provinces.
The camps in the different provinces run concurrently across the country.
Eastern Cape senior manager Brian Hendrikse said they were pleased with the positive impact the programme, also known as the Trailblazer movement, had had over the years and hoped it would continue to do so.
“Over the years, youth who have participated in the Youth Camp have been making meaningful and positive contributions in the areas they come from in advancing our objectives of social cohesion, leadership and nationbuilding,” said Hendrikse.
“Many young people do not participate in sport and through this we also seek to encourage youth to advance the objectives of the NYC through sport, by taking the lead in this regard.
“We therefore call on all participants to take the skills they are going to acquire in the camp and plough these back into their respective communities,” Hendrikse said.
This year’s participants are school-going girls and boys between the ages of 16 and 18, who are involved in sport and community development in the areas where they come from.
In line with addressing gender imbalances in the country, more girls than boys will take part this year.
The participants will be expected to engage in various activities until Thursday night.
Apart from being taught leadership skills, the youth will also be encouraged to preserve indigenous games and champion mass sport participation in their various communities.