Picture: Former Orlando Pirates FC defender, Lucal Tlhomelang along with Naledi Local Municipality mayor, Cooper Groep/Facebook
By OBAKENG MAJE
Former Orlando Pirates FC defender, Lucas Tlhomelang said, he is adamant that fighting alcohol and drug abuse through sports will have a positive impact. Tlhomelang through his foundation, is expected to host Lucas Tlhomelang Annual Easter Games at Extension 28, in Vryburg on 8 April 2023.
He said the Lucas TIhomelang Easter Games were established in 2014 to pioneer, facilitate, and grow the development of football including providing opportunities to a lot of young people in and around North West, on how they can use football and education to better their lives.
“This will be our 5th edition of the tournament and it will be held for the first time in Vryburg. This tournament has been revolving in various areas across the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District in previous years.
“Areas such as Mamusa and Greater Taung have benefitted from it. This initiative will benefit young people because it provides life skills training programme to build resilience among youths and address various socio-economic challenges facing them,” he said.
Tlhomelang further said, the foundation also aims to create a platform, where young people can come together to a safer space, which is free of alcohol and drug abuse. He added that, the foundation empowers coaches to be closer to the players as possible so that, they can pick up any social issues that might be challenging the kids as a group or as individuals.
“In this way, coaches become the middleman assisting the Lucas Tlhomelang Foundation to spot kids that might need to be taken to various rehabilitation facilities around the country,” said Tlhomelang.
Meanwhile, the Naledi Local Municipality mayor, Cooper Groep said: “As the municipality, we gave an audience to Tlhomelang, who presented the conceptualisation of the foundation and rallied for support for the upcoming event.
“We need more programmes such as these. This is the selfless kind that keeps kids away from the streets and drugs. According to the foundation, the tournament is driven by the purpose of getting young boys out of the streets. Tlhomelang himself is a recovering addict, however his first love has always been soccer.”
Groep said, having gone through the rough experiences that come with the usage of drugs or substance abuse and sportsmanship, Tlhomelang is now devoted to helping kids live on the straight and narrow, especially those with aspirations of playing sports.
“We are grateful that, the foundation recognises soccer as the most popular and most watched sport worldwide. Football is a sport with prestige and wide reach and is mostly played by kids, especially from poor backgrounds.
“It can change lives for the better. Recently, Tlhomelang has been bestowed with a Lifetime award during the prestigious North West Sport Award, where he was recognised as a Soccer Legend,” said Groep.
The Guardian 