Cape Town - While millions of spectators watched the famed Wimbledon 2024 Championship taking place in England, more than 100 locals attended the annual street tennis tournament in Mitchell’s Plain yesterday, aimed at bringing sport back into communities.
The Bordeaux Street Tennis Championship is now in its third year, and was hosted by Mitchell’s Plain resident Rodney “Scarra” Brown and Unchain the Plain in Westridge.
Brown said the event highlighted that children don’t play sports any more. He said it was up to them as adults to drive the initiative.
“It is important that we own our space and show the kids how it’s done because all of us need role-models,” Brown said.
Brown said that years ago, children from the area used to envision themselves as Wimbledon stars and would create their street tennis courts in sand or chalk, using potato or onion bags for nets.
“When it was Wimbledon, we knew that today we are going to take on the other street, and we will now unearth the next champion that will partake in the next Wimbledon championship,” he said.
The tennis tournament, according to a 35-year-old local, not only unites the community but also allows residents to communicate their problems to officials.
“Now that they are here, it’s the ideal opportunity for the many people who don’t have access to speak with them,” they said.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, newly appointed MEC for Cultural Affairs and Sport Ricardo Mackenzie, last year’s tournament winner and previous Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen, along with South African tennis star Leo Matthysen, singer Salome, radio host Aden Thomas, influencer and journalist Venecia Valentine from Independent Media, and chef Keanon Michaels were among the wellknown figures who participated in the matches.
Hill-Lewis said: “When I heard about how many kids are involved and the good it does for the community, I thought I have got to come and enjoy this. If you look around us, it brings people together. That is exactly what we want in Cape Town, things that bring people together.”
Is altyd lekker in Mitchells Plain! 😄🔥🎾
Our street tennis tournament was a smash hit! Thanks to all the residents who came out. It was a joy seeing the community come together for some friendly competition and good times! 👏 pic.twitter.com/YsolSaDlsJ
Even though the mayor defeated Aiden Thomas on the centre court, he claimed that he had never played tennis before.
Salome, who played and lost against the well-known DJ Portia, said: “This is a very good initiative that Rodney started, the only thing that I’m disappointed about is that there aren’t a lot of community people here and young people I expected to be here.”
But it wasn’t only about who could serve or have the best backhand, the children also enjoyed the jumping castle, soccer and tug of war.
“We decided to share the trophy, everyone’s a winner at the end of the day. Everyone is a champion,” Brown said.
Cape Argus