The Herald hosts PE’s rugby aspirants

Posted on 29. Jul, 2009 by admin in Headlines and Opinions

It’s official… PE is ready for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. On June 16, 2009 the Nelson Mandela Bay Multipurpose Stadium successfully tested its 2010 capability by hosting its first international rugby match.  The British and Irish Lions took on the local boys from the Southern Kings franchise during the Lions’ 6th leg of their tour of South Africa which served as their final warm up match before taking on the Springboks.

The Herald plays an integral role within the Eastern Cape communities and once again proved its mettle when it provided 180 tickets to aspirant young rugby players to watch the fearsome lions take on the local heroes. Over a five day period, schools were invited to motivate for tickets and outline how their scholars would be transported and kept safe during this major sporting event. Schools from around the bay emailed, faxed and delivered scores of letters which outlined why their young rugby player hopefuls were deserved winners of the tickets. After reading dozens of heartfelt motivational letters from Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) schools, six worthy schools were selected by The Herald’s editorial team to receive 20 tickets per school.

In addition to the school giveaway, five lucky readers were given the opportunity to win double tickets everyday for 6 consecutive days from The Herald’s uber popular sms competitions. In addition, two signed Southern Kings rugby jerseys were on offer to two readers who could predict the final score of the match. Winning readers could see their names printed in their favourite daily newspapers and the winning schools’ letters were published on The Herald’s website.

Attracting just over 35 000 spectators in the new stadium, which can pack in 50 000 – the event proved to be a success judging by the responses from spectators, readers and schools alike. Below are some photos of the happy spectators from some of the lucky schools