was ACHIEVERS day at Big T a wasted exercise ?

here is the flipside of the coin - attracting intelligent achievers, and the segment that have disposable income is one thing and of course including the social segment at the lower tiers of society to form a broad punter base, but how does one combat the negative press as below - see 'gambling is a serious crime...'- ???? annoying when reporters are ignorant?

Schoolkids gambling away thousands a day ( www.iol.co.za )

September 19 2009 at 01:55PM



By Fiona Gounden

School pupils, some as young as 10, are gambling with their classmates and are losing thousands of rands a day.

Many of them are stealing money from their parents and in some cases have become violent and punched their classmates, while others have been threatened with knives, according to Niven Naidoo of Gamblers' Anonymous.

His organisation's statistics show that in the past two months there have been 23 cases of children caught gambling at Durban schools.

Naidoo, who works with schoolchildren from the Durban south area, said his organisation had found that pupils are gambling with their friends using match boxes, bottle tops and cards to represent money.
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"We experienced problems where these pupils are losing between R50 and R100 a day after getting into gambling groups. In one game R2 coins are hidden inside these boxes and they (pupils) are asked to guess in which box the money is in. They win at first and are then enticed to bet for more money. They then bet for amounts like R10 or R20."

Some of these youngsters were even gambling for drugs, said Naidoo.

"They are playing card games where each player has to put a certain drug on the table. Thereafter the winner takes all the drugs. We are encouraging teachers to be vigilant and confiscate any of these items."

He said there had been incidents that had led to violence because of quarrels as a result of the gambling.

SAPS spokesman Superintendent Vincent Mdunge said police would take a tough stance on gambling at schools.

"It is a sensitive issue because they are minors. However, gambling is a serious crime and very often these children pick up these habits from adults and drug dealers. We urge these youngsters to come forward with this information and not let peer pressure at schools force them to gamble".

Joan van Niekerk of Childline said gambling at such a young age could have a negative impact on children's lives later on.

"When they become adults they may become addicts and may lose their incomes and jobs because of this. They need counselling now so that the problem can be sorted out before it reaches a serious stage."

did we not do it with marbles at school...

tell the cops to catch the crooks.........

the cops must watch out...the school kids have guns too...not just the cash in transit guys..

i think these kids should be having lessons in laying odds at school/rehab....sommer in their math class daily. Lay the foundation early for the next generation of punters...sidestep the backyard punting....send them straight on to the real thing.

Hey i ran a casino at school,we were playing Nl holdem at the Royal High School LONG BEFORE THE POKER BOOM.

We also smoked,drank,kicked the shit out of each other,stole from shops,took drugs,sniffed glue,had unprotected sex,verbally abused elders and refused to wear our ties with our school uniform.

But at 8:45am every day the Rector would say lets pray!!

Teacher! leave us kids alone

the lebs turn out ok...

they dont even go to school..

straight to turfontein....marble arch...bookies..

what's the problem..

they know 1 and 1 is evens..

My first post on ABC, the topic had me register to voice an opinion.

Well done to all concerned with the initiative but I must agree with Andrewests' and some other comments. There are a lot of young professionals (salary earners) as opposed to students who have both the means financially and the need of a hobby that have tons of potential as owners.

Sorry for the long post but I need to give it some background.

Since I was 13 years old all the conversations around our dinner table every night was horseracing, breeding and punting. Much to the dismay of my mother! It's been that way ever since. I'm 25 now. I've since moved out of home but visits home mean one thing, talking horses. All I've ever dreamed of is breeding and owning a racehorse and potentially one day going full circle and training my own. Varsity is still fresh in my memory and opportunities like these did not exist. I have hosted friends at Turffontein countless of times, you can label them all minuscule "Achiever's Days" as 90% of those in attendance were professionals of some sort. The last being only a month or so prior to Achievers Day. Even my 21st birthday was at a Champions Day meeting. I've never been invited to racing by anyone it's all on own accord and passion.

I was very happy to see the ads out for Achievers Day and watched an interview with Robin Bruss, Julie Alexander and organiser Mr Naidoo. I contacted a few people that night to ask if they'd want to go to a raceday again at Turffontein if it was such a sponsered event. Just to give even more background those in the group include a qualified vet, CA, Graphic Designer, Software Developers and one lady with an insanely rich daddy. Feedback was a resounding yes. I mailed the contact people and said I have people that fit the bill for Achievers Day how do we get them involved? All I got was a reply with the costing per seat. Like I get for any other Turffontein meeting I attend. I was a bit over zealous saying to them it will be a free day at the races with a few minor expenses, especially when I had to tell them they'd get nothing as I can't get us invites and we won't be a part of it without cost. We'll be going to the Emerald Cup instead as a group.

Maybe re-look at who to get involved and also answering requests to be a part of a raceday such as this by looking at who is asking if they can please be a part of it? Get the students by all means, but do some research and get the new owners we need.

On another note my first mare foaled down on Friday... Step 1 of the childhood dream

Welcome "JJ" and thanks for an excellent contribution.

scotia

Jupiterjones, nice post. Pity you never got the nod for an invite. you must have spoken to " the wrong " person. Sad cause your group of friends are already big time earners, just what the game needs.
Hope you enjoy the Emerald cup, I will be there with my family.

agree with AB ... great iniative... execution ??? you be the judge !

Something Belmont park is doing at the weekend!!


College Day, sponsored by Dime Savings Bank (Dime) and scheduled for Saturday, September 26 at Belmont Park, will offer college students free admission and the chance to win more than $10,000 in scholarships, along with a host of other great prizes, live music, karaoke, trivia contests, food specials, and much more.

All college students will receive free admission on September 26 with valid student identification, and the first 500 will receive a commemorative t-shirt. The Belmont Park gates will open that day at 11:00 a.m. and registration for prize eligibility will begin immediately thereafter in the Paddock Tent.

After each race on College Day, a student prize entry will be drawn for a $1,000 scholarship. Dime will also give away a $2,000 scholarship after the final race of the day. In order to be eligible for the scholarships, the entrants must be full time students in an accredited college that accepts federal financial aid.

On top of the scholarships, students who register for the contest will also be eligible to win great prizes such as an Apple iPod, an American Express gift card, and a Wenger backpack, provided by Dime. To top things off, The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will offer students with a coupon for a reduced price luncheon at either the Country Table or the 2nd Floor Belmont Grill, valid for their choice of a hot dog, hamburger, or chicken fingers with fries and a soft drink, all for $6.50.

To enhance the festivities, the Belmont Backyard will feature live music from “The Kenny Ford Band,” along with karaoke, trivia contests, and carnival games. In case of inclement weather, all of the College Day events will take place on the 1st floor of the Grandstand.

In one of the EU countries, they were going to switch over from driving on the right hand side to the left hand side of the road.

After a long and heated debate over whether this sould be done in a "BIG BANG" and "PHASED" approach, the powers to be settled on the "PHASED" approach.

The plan was as follows:

Mondays - Trucks switch over
Tuesday - Busses switch over
Wednesday - last but not least - the cars will switch over..

Why dont we allow the RA the same....


ps..they country got it right eventually..everyone is happy..
they promised - next time they will vote for the "BIG BANG" approach...Friday 12pm...

My how time flies....... next week will be 1 year since that ACHIEVERS MEETING was held at Turffontein.
Is the R.A. going to repeat this event they all gloated about last year ? I've read nothing.

HOW MUCH HAS THIS ACHIEVERS HORSE WON IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS ?