THE U-CAN YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PRORAMME

Pioneered by The Baseball Academy in Cape Town, and managed by community leaders from the region, the U-CAN programme offers youth from deprived areas of Cape Town a family-oriented sports & development environment to spent time outside of school. Some of the greatest needs in many of these areas are positive social and family activities as an alternative to juvenile delinquency, drug and alcohol and crime. Sport is just the "hook" we use to get to know the young people and to earn the right to invest in them. UCAN is not about Sport, it is about people.

WHO THE PROGRAMME HELPS

There are no excluding criteria, but U-CAN seeks to help the most-in-need on a social and financial scale. Those accepted into the programme have to contribute little except for their willingness to participate in a team environment. Our current focus is in the Blikkiesdorp informal housing cluster. 

HOW THE PROGRAMME HELPS

U-CAN offers inclusion in a year-long-extra-curricula sports and youth development programme. Participants get to be a part of teams that play at all age levels and travel to tournaments around the country. For children from many deprived areas, it is their first opportunity to travel and learn with youth from diverse backgrounds, to be part of a healthy social environments. We are also in the area every day to maintain the relationships we have forged with the young people. Recently we put up a tent in Blikkiesdorp that is now doubling as a community centre.