The Cruyff Court is a purpose-designed and branded artificial turf football pitch developed by Johan Cruyff, a football legend in the Netherlands, to promote and support football in communities across the world. Cruyff Courts are very popular in the Netherlands and have also been built and installed in 15 other countries. There are currently four other such courts in South Africa.

The Cruyff Court will support the University of Pretoria’s sports outreach programme in the Mamelodi community, particularly with schools near the Campus. The Cruyff Court will boost the University of Pretoria’s community engagement activities in Mamelodi and will support the role that football can play in the promotion of education and healthy living among school-going youth in Mamelodi.

Mr Haspels, told those present that the Dutch government was elated to be able to support soccer, since the Dutch people are enthusiastic soccer supporters. He further stated that the Dutch government not only provided the soccer facility, but was also interested in promoting other values, such as a happy and healthy life and respect among the soccer players. The ambassador expressed appreciation of the support provided by the University of Pretoria in building the facility and stated: “Universities do more than just teaching and have a broader role. In this case, the University of Pretoria has taken its role as a socially responsible university by taking responsibility for the community it serves.”

The Executive Director of the University of Pretoria, Prof Antonie de Klerk, applauded the opening of the facility and said that it was gratifying to the University for the following reasons: It will benefit the children of the Mamelodi community, it is a 2010 World Cup Legacy project, and it brings together two important objectives of the University of Pretoria, namely sport and community engagement. Elaborating on the latter, Prof de Klerk pointed out that as a leading university in the country in terms of teaching and research, the University of Pretoria was a major sporting university.

He continued by saying: “We’ve always considered sport as an important part of the development of students and children, and our extensive sports programme testifies to that”. Finally, Prof de Klerk acknowledged the co-operation agreements between the University of Pretoria and its counterpart in the Netherlands.