Coach and Play Sports Projects in Cape Town

ATHLETICS (COACH)	ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OPTIONAL ADD-ONS
No qualifications required, but you must have a good knowledge and love of the sport
On this unusual project, you'll be involved in coaching athletics during life orientation lessons. Life Orientation classes in South Africa are lesson periods devoted to all aspects of life skills that are not directly linked to academic lessons, such as sports, drama, music and art.
The school has only the basic athletics equipment and a fairly rough field for practice, but you will be introducing a sport to the children that they won't have had a chance to experience before. Unfortunately, athletics is not as popular in South Africa as some of the more publicised sports, such as football and cricket.
Therefore, giving the children access to all the various elements that make up athletics will be a wonderful experience for them. Also, without access to athletics, we will never know whether any of the children have a natural skill for running, long jump or any of the other elements.
Watching the kids run around enthusiastically because they're having so much fun is heartwarming and a sight not to be missed
BASKETBALL
No qualifications required, but you must have a good knowledge and love of the sport
When you think of Basketball you might think of the NBA in America but Basketball in Cape Town is a popular sport amongst children at school. The school has a basketball court and the children are always playing Basketball during their lunch break, the only problem is that they have never been coached properly before.
As a Travellers Basketball coach you will be working at the school coaching Basketball during life orientation lessons. Life Orientation classes in South Africa are lesson periods devoted to all aspects of life skills that are not directly linked to academic lessons, such as sports, drama, music and art.
As a Travellers Basketball coach you will be able to coach the children drills and skills that they will of never been coached before making them into better players and enable them to have a greater understanding of the game. As the children at this school do not receive any Basketball coaching your help will be most appreciated.
CRICKET
No qualifications required, but you must have a good knowledge and love of the sport
Cricket in South Africa is very popular as it is one of South Africa’s national sports with the ‘Proteas’ being one of the best teams in one day international cricket. Unfortunately cricket in South Africa is often seen as an elitist sport with the national team being dominated by the previously advantaged. As a Travellers cricket volunteer you will be giving an opportunity to the less fortunate community to learn to play cricket. You'll coach cricket during school hours as part of life orientation lessons. The children are keen to learn to play cricket but have not had a chance before this is where you come in. Being in the summer hemisphere the season runs from Mid October – March, if you wish to play cricket in Cape Town this is the months to come.
FOOTBALL
No qualifications required, but you must have a good knowledge and love of the sport
Football in South Africa is huge and has got even more popular since South Africa won the right to host the 2010 world cup. As Cape Town was named as a host city for the world cup there has been a real interest for football in Cape Town. As a Travellers football coach you will be working at the school coaching football during life orientation lessons.
HOCKEY
No qualifications required, but you must have a good knowledge and love of the sport
COACHING: Travellers have become partners with the Western Province Hockey Union to develop hockey at grassroots level in Cape Town. Hockey in South Africa is a very popular sport with both with males and females, but is typically a sport played by the more well off schools.
On your project as a Travellers hockey coach, you will teach the children how to play the game, including all the rules, and lessons will take place "life orientation" classes.
Life Orientation classes in South Africa are lesson periods devoted to all aspects of life skills that are not directly linked to academic lessons, such as sports, drama, music and art.
As well as coaching at the school after school you will also have the opportunity to work under the guidance of the Western Province Hockey Union coaching schools at the Heartvale Hockey Stadium which is located close to the accommodation.
The Hockey season runs from: Mid January - early March (summer season), and from Mid April - early September (winter season).
NETBALL
No qualifications required, but you must have a good knowledge and love of the sport
Netball is one of South Africa’s most popular female sports along with Hockey. Netball is played in schools all over South Africa by girls who love to play the game the problem is that many schools lack experienced qualified netball coaches and the children don't get the opportunity to play often or receive good coaching.
This is where you come in. There is lots of natural talent in South Africa for netball the children just need to have their talent nurtured and need help in learning how to play the game.
As a Travellers netball coach you will be working at the school coaching netball during life orientation lessons. Life Orientation classes in South Africa are lesson periods devoted to all aspects of life skills that are not directly linked to academic lessons, such as sports, drama, music and art.
RUGBY
No qualifications required, but you must have a good knowledge and love of the sport
Travellers are now offering the chance to coach rugby in Cape Town home of the Stormers Rugby Team who play in the super 14. The Stormers are one of the top teams in South Africa and feature many of the South African players including Schalk Burger.
Rugby in South Africa is a national sport and the national team the Springboks are one the best rated teams in the world. Rugby is predominately seen as a sport for the private rich schools and very few children outside of these schools get the chance to receive coaching at school. The South African Rugby Union over the past few years have been trying to introduce rugby to many of the formally underprivileged communities to encourage more people to take up rugby.
As a Travellers Rugby coach you will be giving children who have never played rugby before the opportunity to learn and play rugby.
As a Travellers Rugby coach you will be working at the school coaching Rugby during life orientation lessons. Life Orientation classes in South Africa are lesson periods devoted to all aspects of life skills that are not directly linked to academic lessons, such as sports, drama, music and art.
SWIMMING
This Project runs from January - Mid March No qualifications required, but you must have a good knowledge and love of the sport
Very few children in South Africa get the chance to learn to swim and very few schools have swimming pools and the sport in South Africa is dominated by the previously advantaged community. Cape Towns schools also lack qualified or experience swimming coaches/teachers to teach the children how to swim this is where you come in.
As a Travellers swimming volunteer you will be coaching the children during life orientation lessons at a local outdoor swimming pool. You will be coaching the very basic skills to the children including water safety. As the standard of the children's swimming is very poor this is a very challenging but rewarding project to go on as many of them have not had the opportunity to learn how to swim before.
VOLLEYBALL
No qualifications required, but you must have a good knowledge and love of the sport
Volleyball in South Africa is a very popular sport especially at school level. Due to the popularity of the game there is a huge demand for coaches, unfortunately there are not many qualified experienced volleyball coaches in South Africa. As a Travellers volleyball coach you will be developing the game through coaching school children.
As a Travellers Volleyball coach you will be working at the school coaching Volleyball during life orientation lessons.
Donating Equipment: In Cape Town the schools and clubs we work with do not have much or very good facilities or equipment. If you have room in your suitcase and can take some secondhand equipment with you, it would be greatly appreciated by the schools and clubs! SCHOOL TERMS IN SOUTH AFRICA: Dates for the 2010 school terms (semesters) are given below. Term 1: 13th Jan – 26th Mar Term 2: 12th Apr – 9th June Term 3: 13th Jul – 23rd Sept Term 4: 4th Oct – 10th Dec Dates for the 2011 school terms (semesters) are given below. Term 1: 19th Jan – 1st April Term 2: 11th April – 24th June Term 3: 18th July – 30th Sept Term 4: 10th Oct – 9th Dec Coaching is not available during school holidays, so if you're planning to participate in a placement, please take the above school term dates into account when planning the timing of your project. On the other hand, if a holiday falls during your proposed placement, you could use this time to do any independent traveling and sightseeing. FREE COACHING MANUALS: As a volunteer sports coach with Travellers, you have access to a large number of coaching manuals for each sport - these manuals have been produced in-house by our Sports Manager. These manuals are very useful and will help you to plan coaching sessions for your students.

TRAVEL:

You'll fly into Cape Town where you'll be met at the airport by one of our staff. From the airport you'll be taken to your work and your accommodation and introduced to your hosts. You'd be well advised to prepare yourself for an almost overwhelmingly friendly welcome!

You have the option to arrange your own flights or we can assist you with your flight arrangements. If you would like us to do this for you, we will liaise with you regarding available flights and dates to suit you. All arrangements for your flight bookings/payments will be fulfilled by Murray Rogers Travel Limited, ATOL No. 6856. Where possible, we arrange for two or more people to travel on the same flight and we will let you have the names and telephone numbers of other volunteers on your flight, so that you can chat to each other or even meet up before leaving for your placement.

VISAS: For many nationalities, visas are not required for a stay of 90 days or less. If you’re not sure whether you need a visa or not, please visit http://www.home-affairs.gov.za/visa_schedule.asp to see whether your country is exempt. If you do need a visa, we will assist you and help make the visa process as easy as possible.

Where possible, all flights we arrange for you have changeable return tickets because many of our volunteers choose to extend their stay once they are in their destination country. Changeable return tickets enable you to do so, within the limits of your visa and the level of your air ticket, of course. If you choose to book your own flights, you should endeavour to get a changeable ticket.

To read about the excellent Support & Backup we provide before you leave and during your programme, please click here.

We can also arrange your flight dates to give you additional time at the end of your project for travelling around and sightseeing - this is a fascinating and wondrous country!

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