Born to Skate As a youngster from a poor community in Kimberley, Northern Cape, Fernando Visagie got involved in gangsterism and drugs, eventually landing in jail. Since his release, he has been dedicated to uplifting his community and helping the local kids so they do not suffer the same fate. Like the Sport Alchemists, Fernando uses sport to keep young people motivated and entertained. Fernando says: “Keeping children occupied and structuring their time with constructive activities allows them to channel their energy into the positive directions of sport and academics to improve their lives.” He has also arranged soccer tournaments, as well as golf lessons and even got a library built in the community. These days Fernando has turned his attention to skateboarding. Kids love skateboarding – it’s cool! “It’s very popular,” says Fernando. “There is a skateboarding trophy hosted here annually. I saw the sadness in the boys’ and girls’ eyes when they couldn’t take part as they didn’t have a skateboard. I saw a gap. I wanted to give them a chance to compete, so that they can be part of something.” Fernando raised money and donations to get skateboards for a bunch of local kids. He is committed to finding safe spaces for them to skate in the community, as the main skate plaza is too far away. Last year he converted a derelict building into a safe skating area by physically taking down the building’s exterior walls. Fernando’s top three skaters, known as the Top Street skaters, are young guys who had never skated before Fernando got them involved. Now they are competing with some of the best kids in the local skating tournaments. One of the boys, now 16 years, was smoking tik when Fernando got him into skateboarding. “It changed his life, he is no longer smoking 64
drugs, and he is one of the best skaters in the community,” says Fernando. “He had never skated before but once he was exposed to it, he drew passion from it and got something out of it for himself. Now these boys are committed and disciplined.”
“Gangsterism deprived me of opportunities. I want to stay in my community, to work here to discourage crime and encourage the youth to occupy their time with constructive things,” he says. “These boys will always remind me of the importance of my work.” Fernando is always looking for donations of old skating boards and wheels or funding to keep the kids in skating gear. “I also want to send the Top Street Skaters on a tour to other provinces, so they can be exposed to other places and people can see how well they have done. I have documented their progress so people can see where they are coming from, they can see pictures of the guys before and where they are now. I want to support them and inspire them to reach the next level. I just want to help as much as I can,” he says. “The aim is to grow this project by expanding it to other provinces, I want to mobilise and unite communities through sport,” says Fernando.