Natasha Bredekamp, 27 years old: An eta student with a passion for swimming , became involved in Active Communities Network as she understood the need in South Africa to help disadvantaged youth who have, through poverty and lack of opportunity, been deprived of large elements of their childhood. A key example of this is being deprived of the opportunity to play sport.
The opportunity to be involved came in 2007, when Active Communities Network trainers attended eta to do a one week course in Youth Development and Community work, alongside Cricket for Change Coaches developing a tapeball cricket initiative as part of the Positive Futures project. After the week, Natasha alongside many of her classmates started volunteering at a school called Forest Heights in Eersteriver as community street 20 cricket coaches. 2008 she started her 2nd year as Sports Management student and continued to volunteer on the Positive Futures project until a job opportunity through Active Communities Network started her career in sport.
Since then she has worked with children from different communities and different backgrounds, ensuring that positive change and improvement through sport was at the heart of each initiative. Natasha has continued to work hard and in 2011 undertook full time employment with the Football Foundation of South Africa as a Project Coordinator.
