A junior soccer club from Woodstock is appealing to the public to help find their missing soccer kit which was stolen from Bo-Kaap late on Sunday evening, July 7.
The equipment belongs to the Queens Park Football Club; which has under-7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14 teams. Their under-12 team won the Manchester Cup when they visited the UK in April.
Club chairman, Adam Alexander, says the equipment was stolen out of a bakkie belonging to the coach who had taken the children home to Bo-Kaap.
“His canopy window was forced open, and the equipment was pulled out of the vehicle. What object they used to break into it, I am not sure,” he said.
Captain Ezra October, from Cape Town police, confirmed the robbery, saying: “A driver of a bakkie parked their vehicle in Van der Meulen Street, Bo-Kaap and the bakkie was broken into.”
He added that everything which had been in the back of the bakkie, had been stolen.
The stolen gear, said Mr Alexander, included five different kits belonging to five age groups of around 50 boys, 12 soccer balls, a ball pump, six pairs of soccer boots and other equipment.
Their soccer kit comprises blue shorts, lime-green shorts and white tops with red stripes. The pink Manchester United shirts the club received when they attended the tournament in Manchester were also stolen.
Salt River resident Rafiqa Booley, whose son, Zaid, was among Queen’s Park’s under-12 players who won the Manchester Cup, said it was sad that people would steal equipment from underprivileged children.
“I donated my grandson’s soccer boots for another under-9 player, and the saddest part is that player could not play because he did not have a pair of boots as that was also stolen from the bakkie as well,” she said.
Despite media reports to the contrary, said Mr Alexander, none of their equipment had been returned yet. While another club had offered them kit to play in last weekend, they were not able to play their fixtures because their SAFA player registration cards had been among the items stolen.
“We need to cover the cost of those SAFA cards as well,” he said.
Mr Alexander is appealing to the public to look out for their equipment. “We appeal to the people who took it to return it,” he said.
Mr Alexander said they had been contacted by the mayor’s office and had received support from Bellville and Ruyterwacht football clubs.
If you can help, contact Adam Alexander at 082 684 3383.
