South Africans are crazy about sports, whether as participants or (more often?) as spectators. And there is only one step from a sports fan to the collector of sporting memorabilia.

Whether you’re a professional or hobbyist collector, collecting sports memorabilia is an incredible way of preserving great sports moments in history. Sports enthusiasts go to great lengths to lay their hands on a memorabilia. The good news is that online trading platforms such as bidorbuy have made it possible the average fan to own a piece of his favourite sport.

So, what does bidorbuy currently hold for sporting memorabilia collectors?

Unsurprisingly, all the “big three” sports – soccer, rugby and cricket – are represented, with 72, 148 and 110 items respectively. Formula 1 memorabilia is holding its own rather well with 30 items, while memorabilia related with other sports is not so numerous.

Among the most sought-after sports memorabilia are the signed T-shirts, like the ones The Ikusasa School is selling:

• Autographed Shirt: Lions Tour 2009
• Autographed Shirt: All Blacks Tri Nations Tour 2008
• Autographed Shirt: Australia Tri Nations 2008
• Autographed shirt: Sharks Winning Curry Cup Squad 2008

In the unlikely event that there are South Africans who are clueless as to which sport these T-shirts come from, we’ll spell it out for them: rugby, of course.

Whether you collect autographed sports T-shirts for fun or for investment, take time to display them correctly. Luckily, the T-shirts mentioned here come framed, so that is one less thing to worry about. Place them in a dry environment away from direct sunlight. Otherwise the fabric might fade, and the value of sports memorabilia goes down considerably if the item is damaged.

It is also a good idea to catalogue your precious sports memorabilia. Than way you will always know exactly what you have. Also, the catalogue can come in handy in case of an insurance claim.

All proceeds from the sale of the items by The Ikusasa School are for the St. Martin’s Children’s Home Ikusasa School of Cooking, a project that helps underprivileged children. A selected group of students will receive one year of free tertiary education. All the tuition costs, ingredients for cooking, as well as transport to and from the school will be provided by the school through sponsors and fundraising drives such as this one on bidorbuy.