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MATLOSANA SPORTS COUNCIL TAKES PRIDE IN ITS 2008 TOP SPORTS
ACHIEVERS
In an event to recognise and congratulate its 2008 top Sport
achievers, Matlosana Sport Council held an annual Sports Merit
award function on Friday, 31 October at the Jaap Steyn Hall.
Present at this memorable ceremony were members of Matlosana
Sports Council Executive, the Chairperson of the Council, Mr.
CLLR J Douw, CEO of North West Cricket Association, Mr. Jacques
Faul, Director of Sport in the North West, Mr. Titus Seboko,
Chief of Sport, Mr. Mogajane and family and friends of the 2008
Sports Award winners.
“South Africa is a proud sporting nation. Our achievements and
failures are well known to all. We compete against the best in
the world as we recently did in the 2008 Olympics, held in
Beijing, China. Team South Africa's performance did not meet
expectations, but we as an organisation that recognises and
nourishes talent, are confident that in the years to come, KOSH
area will be well represented in the Olympic Games to come. We
pride ourselves in that we are the only functioning Sports
Council in the North West,” said Mr. Douw.
The highlight of the evening was the announcement of the
Sportswoman and Sportsman of the year awards. This years'
Sportswoman award was shared between two candidates, Tazmin
Brits and Susan van Staden.
Nominated by the Klerksdorp High School, Tazmin Brits is
currently ranked number one in the world for U/18 girls and 5th
for girls U/20. She is a remarkable young woman whose sports
achievements are outstanding. She obtained NW colours in
Athletics, won SA Senior Track & Field Championships in
Stellenbosch, SA High School Championships in Rustenburg, SA
Junior and Youth U/18 Championship in Tshwane. To top it all,
she obtained 5th position in IAAF World Junior championships in
Poland.
Susan van Staden, was recently selected to represent Team South
Africa as one of the 48 women in the world for cycling at the
Paralympics Games in Beijing, China. Her Sport CV is packed with
great achievements such as the national colours in Cycling for
Paraplegics, obtained 7th position in the 500M Track racing with
a new SA record as well as 2x9th places in the 300M track racing
and road tests with new SA records.
Sportsman of the Year award was won by a young boy of 19 from
Jouberton, Sibabalwe Mzazi.
Nominated by his school, Are-Fadimeheng School, Sibabalwe is
currently the fastest Junior in South Africa to run the 5000M
and 10 000M. He is also rated one of the best up and coming
athletes in South Africa and is currently SASSU's 10 000M and
5000M record holder.
“I am so happy that my son won this prestigious award. Since he
was 11 years of age, he has always loved running. His late
father was an athlete and even his younger brother who is 12
years, recently won two awards in athletics,” mentioned Gloria
Mzazi, Sibabalwe's mother.
Sibabalwe's accolades include a Silver Medal in 10 000M at SASSU
Championships in Durban, Bronze medal in the 5000M SA Junior
Championships, Silver medal in the 12Km SA Cross Country
Championships, 3 x Gold Medals in the 8km, 10km, and 1500M at
Provincial and SA Champioship level. Furthermore, he represented
SA at World Students Cross Country Championships in France and
SA at World student games in Thailand. He also won the ASA
Yellow pages 3000M championships in Potchefstroom as well as the
Spar 10KM race.
In the Merit Awards category, there were thirty sports awards
ranging from Athletics, Swimming and Biathlon, Duathlon,
Triathlon, Tennis, Rugby, Karate, Chess, Gymnastics, Bowling,
Masters Athletics, Cycling, Soccer to Sports Administration,
Coaches and Swimming Convenors.
Among those that stood out in the Merit awards were Hazel Muller
who is the manager of the North West U/25 Bowls Club. At the age
of 14, Hazel became the youngest Umpire for bowls in the world.
Others were Tobie de Jager, Frans Lotter and Eddie Mong who have
been running for 18 years. They obtained SA colours in Duathlon
and represented SA at World Championships in Italy.
There were three young boys from Vaal Reefs Technical High
School, Thema Nontshela, Zolile Zotha and Nabele Sandile who
were nominated to represent SA in the U/19 Harlem Cup Soccer
Tournament and played in Holland where they won a Gold Medal.
“We are proud to say that we are indeed the stars in the
making,” they mentioned.
A special award was given to Mr. Ragoo Pema in recognition for
his long service in Sport as an Administrator. He received a
30-years long service award and to date, he is still serving as
an Executive Member of Matlosana Sport Council.
In the Main Awards category, there were seven winners. They were
Mr. Callie Lönn, who won the Administrator of the year award. He
served in various associations as a treasurer, captain, and as a
founding member of the Inter Mines Dart Association and SA Mines
Dart Association. Other winners were: Grace Legoto (Ladies
Trophy for Development), Bonolo Masilela (Men Trophy for
Development), Carla-Marie van Aswegen (Junior Sportswoman of the
year: Primary Schools), Enzo Lazzari (Junior Sportsman of the
year: Primary Schools), Sibongile Majekula (Junior Sportswoman
of the Year: Secondary School), and Jacques van Staden (Junior
Sportsman of the year: Secondary School.
All of this would not have been possible if the Matlosana Sport
Council was not committed to these phenomenal Sport men and
women. “Our main objective as the Sport council is to develop
and maintain sporting facilities in order to provide
opportunities to our athletes so that they can perform
optimally.
We create facilities to teach youngsters the fundamentals, but
also to train them to compete and win. With the assistance of
different federations, we endeavour to improve the physical,
technical, tactical and mental capacities of our athletes,”
added Mr J Douw, chairperson of the Sport council. “We wish to
thank our great achievers and participants for putting KOSH in
the world map and ensuring that we are recognised as the Sport
Council in the area.” |
