Young City-backed volleyball players go down fighting

05 May 2017

 

The Johannesburg Spikers’ winning streak finally came to an end when they were overcome 3-1 by the University of Johannesburg’s senior volleyball team in a tense match at the University of Witwatersrand’s Multipurpose Centre on Wednesday, May 3.

 

Before going down to UJ’s under-23 team, the Spikers – who are supported by the City of Johannesburg – had never lost a match in their under-18 category.

Mashilo Mokgesi, the City’s Region F Sport and Recreation Outreach Officer, said the City was proud to support the Spikers as they had a lot of potential and always performed exceptionally well.

“As the City, we have developed these young boys from a very tender age. We have ensured that they also perform well at school. This is a programme that strikes a balance between sport and academia.

“We have nurtured their talent and pitted them against the best teams in Johannesburg. This is why we are still proud of them even after losing to UJ. They came out strong. You must remember that the same UJ beat the University of Witwatersrand 3-2 two weeks ago and won the VSA Champion Cup,” Mokgesi said.

He said the Spikers constantly took first place in school tournaments every year. Pitting them against a senior team like the UJ Under-23 was part of a programme to develop them further. 

Nkosinathi Moyo, Founder and Director of the Johannesburg Spikers’ Volleyball Academy, said the team’s development would not have been possible had the City not provided them with training facilities.

“Developing this team has been totally free. This is why we were never limited when using these facilities. We have lost tonight but we have also realised we have a spectacular team. Even though volleyball is not well recognised, we will make sure that over time we grow as champions in our age group,” Moyo said.