On Friday, 11 March 2022, the Western Province cricket union hosted over 800 kids in a KFC Mini-Cricket Provincial Festival at the Newlands Cricket Stadium. This was the first Provincial festival in the region to be hosted after a halt in 2020 due to the Covid19 pandemic and the national lockdown.

The Western Province KFC Mini-Cricket Provincial festival featured local players Daniel Smith, Nandre Burger and Gavin Kaplan. They were also joined by some of the men from the Western Province academy and some of the women from the Western Province Blitz women’s team.

1. Six Gun Western Province player, Daniel Smith, is assisting Athule of Liwa Primary School at the recent Western Province KFC Mini-Cricket Festival at Newlands on the 11th March.

With the national  lockdown restrictions reduced to Level 1, this weekend presented the perfect opportunity to bring joy back to many kids in the Western Province region as KFC celebrate 12 years of their sponsorship.

This year’s theme of the KFC Mini-Cricket programme is “Imvuselelo” or “Recovery” – to resume mini- cricket in South Africa after a lost season due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are really excited that we can host provincial festival again. Like everything else in South Africa, the programme was heavily affected by the Covid19 pandemic, so we thought that Imvuselelo is fitting because we are recovering from what we have lost and rebuilding. ,’ says Buhle Motshegoa Cricket South Africa’s Mass Participation Manager. “The focus is to recover the programme and get kids playing KFC Mini-Cricket again. We would like to encourage schools, that are still a little hesitant to playing sport, to get back to the field and play cricket in a safe way, observing all Covid19 protocol. The safety of the kids and the coaches is very important to us,” she continued.

KFC Mini-Cricket provides opportunities for all involved in the programme to grow, develop, and shine. The programme is one of the most significant development programmes in the South African sporting landscape. Its impact goes beyond the game of cricket. It  brings youngsters from our diverse country together and contributes to the social cohesion in South Africa.

2. Six Gun Western Province bowler, Nandre Burger, is assisting Athi from Liwa Primary Schools with his bowling at the recent Western Province KFC Mini-Cricket Festival at Newlands on the 11th March.

Since the inception of the programme, some 2.5 million kids have played KFC Mini-Cricket and over 120 players have gone on to play for South Africa in various teams. The programme plays a crucial role in CSA’s development framework, over 2 000 players have been identified in the programme and have been directed to their respective Development Hubs and Regional Performance Centres.

“KFC takes great pride in being able to invest into the youth, making a meaningful difference across the communities we operate in. In the last 12 years KFC, through the KFC Mini-Cricket programme, have been providing an opportunity to change kids’ lives so we are excited to continue with this legacy by starting the cricket ‘imvuselelo’ season. This programme will continue to impact kids’ lives once more as we encourage them to get active, learn life lessons and bring joy back into kids lives by again being able to play the game they love,” said KFC CSI manager Andra Nel.

3. Over 800 kids warming up for the recent Western Province KFC Mini-Cricket Festival at Newlands on the 11th March.