QC’s tartan track already set to bring economic boost for town
Queen’s College selected to host five-day provincial school athletics event
Queen’s College has been selected to host a provincial school athletics event on its new tartan track in Komani. The five-day event is expected to bring significant economic benefits to the local community, especially for businesses such as guest houses.
Allister van Schoor, national president of the Queen’s College Old Boys’ Association, said they were delighted to have been selected to host the event in Komani, adding it came as a surprise.
“We are very excited to be hosting. “We had no idea it was going to be given to us already in 2024, which came as a big surprise because we were not 100% complete with our development.
“We were literally appointed at the last minute, so it’s been crazy, very hectic, but the school has really jumped in and lent a great hand here to prepare for the event.
“We look forward to the future. Hopefully, we can host this again.
“We are thrilled that as a beacon of hope in Queenstown, we can positively contribute to the economy of the town.
“We feel this investment of ours makes a lot of sense.
“We saw a bigger picture that we would be able to bring parents, athletes and students to our campuses to see what is going on, and generate income for our town.
“The local community – restaurants and fuel outlets – and everybody will benefit.
“This is a massive boost for us, which we are very excited about.”
Van Schoor highlighted Queens’ reputation as a top rugby school and athletic powerhouse.
“We have wonderful talent in this region and the dream that we had is to breed the next generation of Olympic athletes here in this region, in Queenstown, for the biggest centres, cities and the varsities.”
Provincial sports, recreation arts & culture school sports manager, Anga Ngcebetsha, thanked Thoko Oliphant and Queen’s College for leading the local organising committee and for allowing the province to use its facilities to host the event.
“They have been very professional with us, delivering on everything they committed to and so far we have not had a single complaint from parents or educators. Everything is running
smoothly,” Ngcebetsha said. He said 80% of the people who would attend the event would rely on the hospitality sector for accommodation, run by local SMMEs.
“The preparations for the event have even exceeded our expectations and we are praying that the next days will be much better,” he said.
Ngcebetsha said athletics was a fundamental component of many sports.
“Whether you are playing rugby, football, netball or boxing, you have to run one way or another.
“I wish every child in school would run because if you can walk, you can run. [Though] you may not run at a speed that is required [for athletics competition] because of how your body is built.”
Pam Gxuluwa, the provincial education department’s coordinator for school health, safety, and learner enrichment, said Chris Hani West was chosen to host the event because of Queen’s tartan track.
“Cradock is also one of the schools that has a tartan track.
“The department manages more than 5,000 schools.
“Our wish is for all our schools to have access to tracks like Queen’s College so that our children who are running here today have proper facilities for sports activities.”
She said some pupils excelled in academics and others in sport.
“We have produced national champions representing the province.
“What we like most is that sport has taught them discipline, pride in
themselves, their homes and their name, and patriotism.”
She said many children faced hardship and abuse, and events such as this gave them hope for a better future.
“Programmes like these make a child forget they come from an abusive environment.
“When they come here they socialise with peers from other schools and forget about their pain.
“When they return home, their memories keep, that they once went to Komani to a beautiful sports track, because some of them come from gravel fields in villages.
“When they come to a track like this it gives them hope that there are beautiful places out there, even if they are coming from disadvantaged areas,” Gxuluwa said.