The Cape Town Sport Council, under the astute leadership of Elton Davids, is forging ahead with plans to keep its members active and focused in the face of the national Lockdown brought on by the devastating Covid-19 virus.
Davids is also an executive member of the Western Cape Provincial Sport Confederation (WCPSC).
All sporting activities have been suspended in terms of the Lockdown regulations but at Cape Town lots are currently happening behind the scenes while the members adhere to our president’s request to stay at home.
Davids established a WhatsApp group for the executive committee of Cape Town Sport Council, so that federations get regular updates on different aspects regarding the Coronavirus, updates on statistics, sport life and other matters affecting them.
CTSC just disseminated the draft policies document that is up for comment by the City of Cape Town and now the federations have to work through it and give feedback.
Davids said it was important to try and keep people active in sport despite the Lockdown. He himself is doing a live exercise program on his personal Facebook page every day at 10 am and says anybody is welcome to join him or do it at a convenient time in the comfort of his/her house.
SAFA has rolled out a football program that is send out by SAFA Cape Town, while Table Tennis, Karate, Archery and other federations also have their own customised programs out to keep people busy.
Elton explains that the Lockdown affected Cape Town’s activities severely, as they had 10 workshops cancelled as a result. They are attempting to have online meetings, which is a good thing, but it comes with its challenges. Data is expensive and unless they fund it, it becomes prohibitive because of high data costs.
To do a Zoom conference is also a daunting task, as you need a big enough platform to cater for 50 people. The chairperson said doing webinars is something they have to consider if the Lockdown continues beyond the 21 days as announced.
He was confident that the federations can hit the ground running once Lockdown is over. All the federations have their schedules for their respective seasons, and some can resume within a week or two, but that also depends on how active the athletes stayed during Lockdown.
Davids said the possibility is there that athletes can get injured if they resume competition without the required fitness levels and that creates another challenge.
