The KFC Mini Cricket programme seamlessly fits into Cricket South Africa’s Tomorrow Campaign to shape the future of cricket. The past year included the 16 annual regional KFC Mini Cricket Festivals, which saw the continuation of the programme around the country as well as several new initiatives introduced by KFC to grow and broaden the scope of the Mini Cricket brand.

These initiatives included the launch of the KFC Mini Cricket Ambassador programme, which established well known cricketers Makhaya Ntini, AB de Villiers and Trisha Chetty as the faces of KFC Mini Cricket and positioned them as role models for the thousands of children who pass through the programme each year. The Ambassadors also provided an opportunity to associate the icons of the cricketing world with the programme, especially as so many members of the national men and women cricket teams started out playing mini cricket as youngsters, therefore providing them with an opportunity to give something back and encourage the next generation of cricket stars. In conjunction with the ambassador programme, KFC also launched a new exciting in-store mobile game where patrons can bowl against AB de Villiers.

KFC also established Family Days during the Castle test series against India, which took place late last year in Gauteng, Durban and Cape Town. These days mirrored KFC’s overall philosophy of creating and enjoying special family moments, which strategically taps into the brand personalities of both KFC and Mini Cricket. Additionally KFC Mini Cricket Action Zones were also set-up where parents and children could have some fun testing their cricketing skills on the speed tracker and crazy catch stations amongst the other exhilarating activities as well as the chance to enter into a once-in-a-lifetime competition to win a child’s party hosted by either AB de Villiers or Makhaya Ntini.

“The focus for year one was to monitor the programme and establish the areas that we need to focus on. Over the past year 3 500 schools were targeted around the country, which translates into 86 000 children who were exposed to the game of cricket. This gives us a base from which to move forward and grow the number of schools and children involved in the programme while still ensuring we have the resources and infrastructure to guarantee KFC Mini Cricket remains a sustainable entity going forward,” commented Lauren Turnbull, KFC Sponsorship Manager.

KFC also instituted a monthly administrator award, which recognises the hard work and dedication the, predominantly volunteer; coaches contribute to the overall success and continuity of the programme. The first administrator of the month recipient was Johan Muller from Pretoria, followed in March by Sarah Swartz from Kimberly, who has recently retired after 20 years of active involvement with the programme and counts Loots Bosman and Victor Mpitsang among her many cricket success stories.

The programme once again showed its support for ensuring that girls sport gets a boost by encouraging and supporting the participation of girl’s teams and the introduction of Trisha Chetty as an ambassador. Trisha provides an ideal role model to encourage young girls to get involved and create a competitive presence within the sport.

Turnbull continues, “Moving into the second year of the sponsorship KFC remains poised to explore additional opportunities to ensure the game of cricket reaches more children than ever before.”

For more information on KFC Mini Cricket, please contact CSA on 011 880 2810.