Local sports festival a massive success
THE Phoenix Sports Festival concluded on Sunday at the Rydalvale Sports ground with the cross country race and various code finals bringing the curtains down on the month-long programme.
The initiative was started by the Phoenix Community Centre three years ago. Spokeswoman for the festival Charmaine Naidoo said this year’s sports festival was the biggest yet. “We had over 10 000 participants take part at this year’s festival. The finals in eleven sporting codes were played over the weekend, lending credibility to the tournament being deemed a festival,” said Naidoo.
She added that the sports festival catered for children from as young as 3 to seniors who actively participated in the various sports. Soccer, was the largest code with 8 500 participants, followed by cricket, having 380 players, karate chipped in with 450, netball, volleyball, chess and debating sessions made up the rest of the participants with crèche sport attracting 150 young children. “Golden Games had 100 participants while 600 took part in the cross country races with 500 runners hitting the road in the 10 km road race,” she said.
Naidoo said the games were played in a spirit of competitiveness and fair play, with the festival committee very pleased with the outcomes achieved at this year’s sports festival.
“The festival progressed without any major injuries and problems.We want to place on record our sincere gratitude and appreciation to all our participants, the parents, community, sport administrators and officials, our partners, sponsors and donors,” she said.
The festival closed with a prize-giving ceremony at 5pm on Sunday.