n African Journal for Physical Health Education, Recreation and Dance - The contribution of the African People's Organisation to sport in South Africa : July to December 1920 history - : sport history

Abstract

This article presents a descriptive recovery of sport articles for the period July to December 1920 in the A.P.O. Official Organ of the African People's Organisation (APO). It expands on previous work on the contribution of the African People's Organisation to sport, and this article should be read as part of a continuum on a historical trajectory of the APO starting in 1909 and terminating in 1923. The merit of using the APO as a tool for sport history research was found in the fact that it had branches throughout South Africa from where freelance journalists submitted sport reports. These reports covered sport practices in remote parts of the country, and by surveying the commentary pages of the APO, researchers are able to place participation practices within a social and political context. A further value of this newspaper was the fact that sport was reported from grassroots level and therefore doors are opened to sport historians for exploration work on a local history level. Finally, the APO also provided reports on recreational activities and marginalised sporting codes, thus helping sport historians with the interpretation of a broad human movement performance during the period of review at local community level.