M’sane club to grow game in townships
Eagles to relaunch Billie Magengelele Programme
MDANTSANE’s Eagles Baseball Club is set to launch the Billie Magengelele Baseball Revival Programme on Saturday at the Sakhile Primary school in NU13 in an effort to ensure baseball continues to grow in townships around the province.
Champion of the sport and Eagles coach, Lwazi Mlondolozi from NU13 in Mdantsane, who started the sport at the age of nine years said the programme was aimed at ensuring the legacy of deceased sport administrator and baseball pioneer Sithembiso Billie Magengelele lived on.
As part of the programme Eagles will host coaching clinics around the province, with the assistance of a coach from the USA, St Louis Community College baseball programme’s Zach Graefser.
“On Sunday we will have the coaching clinics here in NU13 at Sakhile Primary, and on Monday we’ll be heading to schools around the OR Tambo Municipality. Then on Wednesday we will go to Alfred Nzo.
“On Thursday we’ll be around East London visiting local schools before we head to Port Elizabeth,” said Mlondolozi.
He said he wanted the sport to thrive in townships.
“We want to revive this sport in the entire Eastern Cape, and at the same time make sure that Mr Magangelele’s legacy lives on.
“I joined coaching because of him, plus when I finished high school there was no competition beyond high school, so he helped me get my coaching career off the ground.
“Plus he was my coach during my playing days and he used the sport to keep us away from the streets, and I’m grateful for that, and I want to continue his work.
“We didn’t have to focus on things like drinking or smoking drugs. Hence I felt the need to continue with the sport and initiate such a programme.”
Eagles club has eight schools playing around Mdantsane, and Mlondolozi said the number promises to expand.
He said their biggest challenge was getting the necessary equipment like bats, helmets and balls, which are expensive, and participating in the nationals hosted by the South African Baseball Union was also costly.
“The Department of Sport can’t assist us in that regard because they don’t have baseball in their programmes, and we hope that will change.
“This year they will be hosted in Port Elizabeth and we hope that we’ll be able to attend.”