Tebogo Monama

Tebogo Monama

Not even the rain could dampen the spirits of the more than 2500 Gauteng primary school pupils gathered in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, to play sports for an uninterrupted 50 hours.

When the heavens opened on Saturday, the children simply moved to indoor sports and carried on playing.

The games were developed by Sporting Chance after the Health of the Nation research revealed that children develop habits for life by age 12.

This means that inactive children will most likely not develop an active and healthy lifestyle as adults.

"We are happy that the games have come to Gauteng. In Cape Town they have always been a success," Sporting Chance's Brad Bing told Sowetan.

"The City of Johannesburg has decided to run with the project and make sure that the children continue with the sports.

"The decision in the mid-1990s to integrate physical education into Life Orientation learning area in the school curriculum means that most school children in South Africa do not play sport or take part in any organised physical activity during school hours."

Bing said it was important for children to play sports at school or to be part of a club.

The Oxygen Health of the Nation 50-hour Sports Challenge started on Friday and ended yesterday at 4pm.

The event aims to raise the awareness of the importance of physical activity in a child's life and to introduce thousands of children to the fun and health benefits of sport.