.JPG)
Score national CSI brand coordinator Rochey Walters and Madibaz Director of Sport Vuyo Bongela celebrate the brand’s return as title sponsor of the Madibaz Campus Sport League. With them are students modelling this year’s kits. Photo: Full Stop Communications
Score Energy Drink came on board for the first time in 2025 and instantly elevated the status of Mandela University’s annual recreation and social-cohesion programme.
Putting its name to the six-code competition again was thus very much a no-brainer for its umbrella company Chill Beverages.
Madibaz Sport established the league four years ago to give every student the opportunity to participate in a discipline that interests them.
The upcoming championships, where teams can compete in basketball, netball, rugby, futsal, football, chess and volleyball, get underway next month and run until October.
Speaking at the media launch on Tuesday, Madibaz Director of Sport Vuyo Bongela said the relationship with Score went beyond sponsorship.
“It’s about belief in what we are wanting to do,” she said.
“Our mandate is not only to cater to leading athletes but encourage mass participation of students in sport. This partnership shows that we value the wellness and vitality of all our students.”
Each sport has been allocated its own colour: red apparel for men’s basketball; light blue for women’s futsal; turquoise for men’s football; purple for women’s netball; blue for men’s chess; green for women’s chess; black-and-white for men’s volleyball; and peach for women’s volleyball.
Bongela said Mandela University had seen a drop in athlete participation since the pandemic, even at elite level.
The league is aimed at addressing this while also unearthing talent that otherwise may slip through the cracks.
“A competition like this also helps to build a good student culture.”
She added that some brands only supported high-performance athletes but the sponsor wanted to share in the University’s vision through the mass-participation league.
Score national CSI brand coordinator Rochey Walters said it had decided to get involved in sport at ground level and Mandela University was the first institution where this strategy had been implemented.
The first year of sponsoring the league was “amazing”.
“For us, it’s not just about putting a can in the hand or giving students kit to play in. We are here to add value.”
He recalled being invited to watch a rugby match between a Model C and rural-community school.
Where the former came across as a tight-knit unit by virtue of having the same kit, their opponents arrived wearing different-coloured shirts. One boy even played in his school trousers.
“I realised then that they (rural side) had lost the game even before they started playing. That’s where the idea to get involved in grassroots-level sport came from.”
Many students, including those studying at the Bay institution, were raised in rural environments and having the sponsor on board enables them to feel part of a team.
Walters also made the point that many star athletes were discovered at internal varsity competitions.
“That’s why it’s important to get involved.”
Campus league coordinator Mukundi Makhita thanked Madibaz Sport and the sponsor for supporting the social cohesion program.
He said the competition represented more than an opportunity to play sport.
“It’s where we can relax after a long day of stressful classes and piles of examinations. We appreciate what you are doing for us.”