SIOBHAN BROWN

Silver Malele, an unemployed resident of Diepsloot, won the South Africa Sport and Recreation Department Volunteer of the Year award for his work in bringing hockey to under-privileged children.

Diepsloot is a large community located on the northern outskirts of Sandton.  Silver lives with his wife, Precious and their 4 children.

Silver is a volunteer health promoter at the Diepsloot South Clinic where he runs HIV/Aids awareness and support groups for chronically ill patients and their families. He is also involved in a garden project at the clinic, encouraging patients to be self-sufficient and to take proper care of themselves.

Silver attended the Witkoppen School in Fourways and started playing hockey in 1979 until 1984 under the South African Men’s Hockey Association. He also attended the popular Impi hockey festivals in Pietermaritzburg for 4 years with Jock Coombes. This is where his love of coaching started. His goal is to reach level 6.

Silver started coaching hockey in 2001 on a dusty gravel Diepsloot road, in pursuit of his lifelong dream. It started with 6 children aged between 7 and 11. From the beginning Silver engaged with the children about their lives and encouraged them to share with the group, inspiring them to remain positive under trying conditions where life on the streets always seemed an easy alternative.

Silver admits that he was amazed but not surprised at the steady interest shown amongst the children of Diepsloot in playing hockey rather than the more traditional sports codes. He continues to reach out to all the children of his community and no child is ever turned away. He is constantly encouraging and searching for more children to participate.

When Silver isn’t involved in anything hockey or with the clinic, he is very much a family man and his other interests are watching TV and reading. He also runs life skills clinics in the holidays and continues to talk to the children about the basic issues of growing up.