The Philippi Angels Baseball Club

This 4' film portrays the story of the Philippi Angels Baseball Club from Philippi Township, Cape Town, South Africa. The Angels are the only team of Black South African youth competing in the Baseball Association of Western Province, the largest youth and adult baseball league in the country. The Angels practice in a rocky drainage that serves as a pedestrian thoroughfare to the bus and train station across the road. Amid broken glass, discarded matresses, and grazing cows, they practice a sport they had previously never seen. The field conditions are too dangerous and the neighborhood too questionable to play home games against their more priviledged opponents. This requires them to travel across the Cape Town metro-area to play every one of their scheduled matches, even when they are listed as the home team. Despite the challenges, both the Under-12-year-old and Under-14-year-old teams finished strong in their respective divisions in their very first season of play in 2005/2006. The Under-14 team placed 2nd in the B-division out of 9 teams and the Under-12 team won the B-division, losing only 2 of 18 games. The Angels are seeking financial support to purchase uniforms and equipment and to fund the construction of a proper baseball playing field. Inquiries can be directed to Ian Edelstein, e-mail: ian@oz.net or Nyameko Gabada, e-mail: ngabada@pgwc.gov.za