Gom january '14 issue 03

‘My sport. My life.’

ISSUE 03, JANUARY 2014

The only sports magazine for South African youth

In partnership with

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Cover Photo: HERMAN VERWEY

FOUNDERS Dave White | Michael Janse van Rensburg | Charl Kruger QUARTERBACK (Creative Director) Michael Janse van Rensburg | michael@camouflage.co.za REFEREE (Sales Director) Dave White | white.dave78@gmail.com GOALKEEPER (Director) Charl Kruger | charl@camouflage.co.za COACH (Editor) Wilhelm de Swardt | wilhelm@camouflage.co.za Assistant Coach (Copy Editor) Cecile Kiley | ceenaude@global.co.za PLAYMAKER (Art & Creative Senior Designer) Raymond Q Nkomo | ray@camouflage.co.za LINEBACKER (Senior Designer) Carli Jansen van Rensburg | carli@camouflage.co.za SUBSTITUTE (Graphic Designer) Kerry Kruger | kerry@camouflage.co.za Eye In The Sky (Chief Photographer) Dr Henry Kelbrick | medsport@mweb.co.za IRON Sky (Award Winning Photographer) Herman Verwey | herman.verwey@gmail.com MASCOT (Illustrator) Jakes van Vuuren | vanvuurenjb@gmail.com X’s & O’s (Production Manager) Cherice Liebenberg | cherice@camouflage.co.za BEAN COUNTER (Financial & Office Administrator) Erika Kruger | admin@camouflage.co.za GENERAL ENQUIRIES carli@camouflage.co.za | 087 980 2266 (X4) PUBLISHER CAMOUFLAGE VISUAL SOLUTIONS (PTY) LTD APP AVAILABLE ON iTunes | Android Market | Blackberry World PDF READER AVAILABLE FROM Snapplify.com | game-on-mag.com HEAD OFFICE Building 26 | Norma Jean Square Office Park 244 Jean Avenue | Centurion Gauteng | South Africa Tel | +27 87 980 2266 Fax | +27 86 532 7880 Web | game-on-mag.com DISCLAIMER While every effort is made by TEAM: GAME ON to ensure that the content of our magazine is accurate, CAMOUFLAGE VISUAL SOLUTIONS (PTY) LTD and GAME ON magazine cannot accept any responsibility for errors that may occur, or for any significance of applying the information contained herein. Statements by contributors and media submissions are not always representative of either CAMOUFLAGE VISUAL SOLUTIONS (PTY) LTD or GAME ON magazine’s opinion. No part of the GAME ON magazine may be reproduced in any form or stored without prior written permission from CAMOUFLAGE VISUAL SOLUTIONS (PTY) LTD and/or GAME ON magazine. CAMOUFLAGE VISUAL SOLUTIONS (PTY) LTD and GAME ON magazine supports and encourages responsible practices with regards to all sports, activities and the conservation and protection of our planet and all inhabitants.

© Camouflage Visual Solutions (Pty) Ltd and Game On

BENCH (CONTRIBUTORS) Issue 2, November 2013

KOBUS PRETORIUS Journalist

ANDRIES VAN DER MERWE Athlete Diary

Ockert de Villiers Journalist

Ilze Hattingh Tennis Diary

Jane Bramley Journalist

Gerhard De Beer Javelin / American Football Diary

Karien Jonckheere Journalist

Wian Sullwald Triathlon Diary

Wesley Botton Journalist

SASPA (South African Sports Picture Agency)

DAVE J Macleod Journalist

The BLD GROUP

Reg Caldecott Photographer GRANT Johnson & Shaun Dafel Columnists Arnaud Malherbe Columnist AndrĂŠ Watson Columnist MARC MUNDELL Columnist Lynette Burger Columnist Scott Mercier Columnist

HIGH PERFORMANCE CENTRE-HATFIELD (hpc) High School Sports Magazine

contents Issue 3, January 2014

COVER FEATURE MAIN STORY

RUGBY

Chad le Clos:

Robert du Preez Jnr: LIKE DAD, LIKE SON: THE DU PREEZ LEGACY LIVES ON!

Could it get any better than this?

In 2O12 he became Olympic champion, in 2O13 a double world champion.

Words by: Karien Jonckheere; Photos by: Herman Verwey

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INTERNATIONAL SPORTING ACHIEVERS

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Cricket Suné Luus & Abrie Smit: “Backyard cricketers”: heroes in the making

(surfski)

KENNY RICE: Surfing the crest of success Kenny Rice is all about getting in shape to take on the best in the world in a sport he simply can’t get enough of – surfski.

Words by: Karien Jonckheere; Photos by: Anthony Grote

(RUGBY): Inspired by his father’s legacy, Robert du Preez Jnr is already showing the potential to also pull the Springbok jersey over his head in the future.

Words by: Ockert de Villiers; Photos by: SASPA

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(CRICKET): Many success stories in sports originate in backyard gardens where young children try to emulate the successes of their heroes.

Words by: Wilhelm de Swardt; Photos by: Cricket Council, Gallo Images SA

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NETBALL Vanes-Mari du Toit: A girl on the move

FEATURES

(NETBALL): She’s the first South African to be invited to join Adelaide Thunderbirds an Australian AZN League team.

Words by: Jane Bramley; Photos by: Image SA

What is happening now: Dusi 2014: Tough competition expected The 2014 Dusi Canoe Marathon is a month away and all top contenders are fully into training.

Words by: D J Macleod; Photos by: John Hishin, Bertie Baard, Anthony Grote

Athletics

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(ICC u-19 cricket) Clyde Fortuin: Good Batter Best He’s regarded as one of the best, if not the best, batsmen to play schools cricket in 2013.

Words by: Kobus Pretorius; Photos by: CSA

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Focus on Hoërskool Waterkloof

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Marcel Roberts: Is Chess a sport or is it a game?

(Chess) No two people seldom agree on this question. The heated fanatical and sceptical debate continues.

Words by: Wilhelm de Swardt; Photos: Colleen Naudé

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THE Benson Sisters: I want to ride my bike (Cycling): These song ‘Bicycle Race’ written by Freddie Mercury best describes the Benson sisters’ addiction to cycling.

Words by: Wilhelm de Swardt; Photos by: Cycling SA, Dimension Sport, Cycho Media, Rex Benson

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

(Athletics): 2014 might just turn out to be the year when South African sprinters will begin to rewrite the record books.

And it will be none too soon.

Words by: Wilhelm de Swardt; Photos by: Reg Caldecott, Henrico Bruintjies

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DUWAYNE BOER: ‘n Boer maak ‘n plan

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SOMIEN SCHUTTE: Streaks ahead (TRIPLE JUMP): In South Africa the words ‘women’s triple jump’ and ‘excitement’ aren’t likely used in the same sentence because to be honest, it has been stagnant for many years.

Words by: Wilhelm de Swardt; Photos by: Lois Warden Vorster, Neil Cornelius

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THE LABUSCHAGNE SISTERS: TO THE POWER OF THREE (LONG-DISTANCE RUNNING): South Africa has a set of triplets to keep an eye on, as the Labuschagne sisters – Olivia, Alicia and Sindy – have been making waves.

Words by: Karien Jonckheere; Photos by: Reg Caldecott

Somari Els: is Exceptional (NETBALL) No fortune-teller will be needed to tell us that Somari Els will still be throwing around ‘things’ in 2014.

Words by: Wilhelm de Swardt; Photos: Colleen Naudé

2014: Sprinters: rewriting the record books

(LONG JUMP): The year 2013 was supposed to be an easy year for Duwayne Boer but then he surprised himself.

Words by: Wilhelm de Swardt; Photos by: Reinhard van Zyl, Neil Cornelius, Reg Caldecott

Justin Phillips: HANDS ON Justin Phillips A WP rugby protégé To be successful you should be able to grab any opportunity that comes your way with both hands.

Words by: Wilhelm de Swardt; Photos: Colleen Naudé

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Rowing SA ROWING SQUAD: HITTING THE HIGHS WITH THE ROWERS

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(ROWING): With more Olympic glory in mind coach Roger Barrow’s appetite for more medals has seen the South African rowing team spend a three-week long high-altitude training camp on the Katse Dam in Lesotho.

Words and Photos by: Ockert de Villiers

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contents Issue 3, January 2014

Waterpolo Dan Trinnic and Roarke Olver: FORMIDABLE DUO PONDER THEIR FUTURE (Waterpolo): Dan Trinnic and Roarke Olver, couldn’t have given St John’s College a better farewell than victory at the Old Mutual Wealth National Schools Water Polo Tournament in East London last month.

Words and Photos by: Karien Jonckheere

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Squash MURRAY COMMINS: TALENT OFF THE WALL & ON THE BALL (SQUASH / CRICKET): As a very competent cricket player, a talent he no doubt gets from his father John, Murray comes from a very talented sporting family who is especially wellknown in the cricket circles of Cape Town.

Words by: Kobus Pretorius; Photos: Supplied

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CYCLING Bianca Haw: THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER IS CYCLING UP A STORM! (CYCLING / CANOEING): Her dad may have introduced her to mountain biking, but the junior national champion is looking forward to the day when people will recognise her achievements over and above her fathers well-known vocation.

Words by: Karien Jonckheere; Photos by: Anthony Grote, Darren Goddard

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ASHLEIGH MOOLMAN PASIO: GEARING UP FOR VICTORY (CYCLING): After completing another superb international season in 2013, Ashleigh Moolman Pasio hopes to continue her fine form this year as she leads the charge in the steady rise of African women’s cycling.

Words by: Wesley Botton; Photos: Supplied

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Hockey Lauren Pijper: Astroturf Hockey & Passion (Hockey): “When I am on a hockey Astroturf and my legs ache so much that I can hardly move, that’s when I am utterly relaxed.”.

Words by: Wilhelm de Swardt; Photos by: Joan Manders

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Judo JD le Grange: Don’t mess with a judoka (Judo): There’s a bully in Potchefstroom who knows from his own experience that you might just end up bleeding if you mess with a Judoka.

Words by: Wilhelm de Swardt; Photos by: Reg Caldecott

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Triathlon Henri Schoeman: Amongst the best triathletes in the world (Triathlon): Not many local sports fans realise that South Africa has some of the best triathletes in the world.

Words by: Wilhelm de Swardt; Photos: Supplied

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contents Issue 3, January 2014

REGULARS “OFF THE BALL!” – with Grant Johnson & Shaun Dafel (SOCCER)

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“ATHLETICS circle” – with Arnaud Malherbe (ATHLETICS): WHEN DID ATHLETICS, STOP BEING ABOUT ATHLETICS?

“Referees WHISTLE!” – with André Watson (Rugby): Are Referees Held Accountable?

“WALKING THE PATH LESS TRAVELLED” – with MARC MUNDELL (ATHLETICS): LESSONS FROM MADIBA.

“cycling 101” – with Lynette Burger (Cycling): Pumped Up Kicks.

“cycling aright” – with Scott Mercier (Cycling): HIGH FLYERS: THE PRESSURE TO DOPE.

134 138 142 144 148

PERSONAL ATHLETE JOURNALS (Athletics) ANDRIES VAN DER MERWE: RUNNING LINES

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(AMERICAN FOOTBALL) Gerhard De Beer: American Football? Or simply Football?

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(TENNIS) Ilze Hattingh: Another fascinating peek into Tennis Ace globetrotting adventures!

Photos by: Henry Kelbrick

(TRIATHLON) Wian Sullwald: the TOUGH GET GOING

154 158

ADVICE COLUMN hpc - Ignatius Loubser, Strength & Conditioning Specialist: Strength is a Skill

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hpc - Jimmy Clark: Debunking the Dogma

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

Issue 3, January 2014

CRISIS IN SA Athletics The editorial staff of Game On, wish all our readers a happy and prosperous New Year.

We also hope that 2014 will provide exciting new challenges to the young men and women who are our junior sports ‘gladiators’, giving them ample opportunities to fulfill their goals and ambitions.

The ICC Under-19 World Cup (14 February-1 March) in the United Arab Emirates; the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy (7-19 April) in Hong Kong; the IAAF World Junior Championships (22-27 July) in Eugene, USA; and the Youth Olympic Games (16-28 August) in Nanjing China are just four of the major events that will provide opportunities to our sports heroes of tomorrow to excel.

It is safe to predict that quite a few junior athletes will also get the opportunity to step onto a bigger stage during the Commonwealth Games (23 July-1 August) in Glasgow.

Unfortunately, the constant bickering and infighting amongst the administrators of South African athletics again compel me to get onto my ‘soapbox’ to vent my frustrations.

What has been happening in SA athletics since 2012 undoubtedly borders on the ridiculous. The latest Athletics South Africa (ASA) coup d’état took place at the end of last year.

To make matters even worse, the decision makers of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) are in cahoots with some of the administrators who are trying to destabilise the sport. They will, of course, never admit that this is true, but a bit of research made it abundantly clear.

It is no surprise, therefore, that Arnaud Malherbe (current SA 400 m record holder) began his athletics column (p.134) as follows: “I can’t remember when last I had a discussion about athletics that was actually about athletics.”

Malherbe writes. “More often than not these days, the questions I receive tend to be along the lines of ‘What’s going on at Athletics South Africa (ASA)’ or ‘Is James Evans (ASA president) really such a bad guy?’”

The sad truth is that the athletes are the only losers in this egotistical battle between the administrators. The time has come for everybody involved with SA Athletics to heed the following, slightly adapted, famous words by John F. Kennedy: “Administrators, ask not what athletics can do for you, ask what you can do for athletics.”

The administrators don’t seem to realise that their infighting can have farreaching consequences for the athletes, such as: • No participation by any South African athlete in any international event (and this includes the average South African who may want to run an international marathon).

• Cancellation of bursaries for South African athletes studying at offshore institutions.

• No participation by international athletes in South Africa (this would include the Comrades and Two Oceans).

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) cannot recognise the current ASA interim board because to do so could have serious repercussions. If they should give credence to the ‘SA rebels’, it could put them in the uncomfortable position where they would continually have to decide where to draw the line, because there are other countries with similar problems. It stands to reason, therefore, that the IAAF will only recognise an athletics board if it has been democratically elected.

If, eventually, the IAAF should decide to suspend ASA until it has sorted out its internal problems, I can only hope that the local administrators will have the guts to look each and every athlete in the eye and tell him why he will not be allowed to compete at a World Championships, Commonwealth Games or the Youth Olympics. However, I doubt this will ever happen.

Administrators should realise that in this era of professional sports youngsters, especially boys, do have other options.

More and more talented male athletes choose to play rugby, cricket or soccer after school because they can make a career of it. At the moment the scenario for SA athletes is that they have to work long, hard hours with absolutely no guarantee of ever fulfilling their ambitions.

This is the reason why there are currently no real heroes in SA Athletics.

If sanity should not prevail among the administrators, there is a 99% chance that, by this time next year, nothing much will have changed in SA Athletics. But miracles sometimes do happen.

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Thomas Bjorn the best in the game 2013

Âť Photo by: Henry Kelbrick

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

SPLASH IMAGE: NEDBANK 2013 GOLF CHALLENGE

Thomas Bjorn

2013 Nedbank Golf Challenge winner

If Thomas Bjorn was looking for confirmation that at the age of 42 he could still compete with the best in the game, then his two-stroke victory in the 2013 Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City gave him 1 250 000 reasons to keep believing. The $1 250 000 cheque he received for becoming the first Danish winner of “Africa’s Major”.

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Australian Steelers reigning Paralympic Champions

Âť Photo by: Herman Verwey

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

SPLASH IMAGE: PARALYMPIC RUGBY

IWRF 2013 Asia Oceania Championship

SOUTH AFRICA VS AUSTRALIA PARALYMPIC WHEEL CHAIR RUGBY

South Africa’s Katherine Swanepoel gets rammed by Australia’s Ryley Batt. Australia won 71-20

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Australian Steelers reigning Paralympic Champions

IWRF 2013 Asia Oceania Championship AUSTRALIA VS JAPAN PARALYMPIC WHEEL CHAIR RUGBY

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

SPLASH IMAGE: PARALYMPIC RUGBY

Âť Photo by: Herman Verwey

The Australian Steelers, reigning Paralympic Champions, claimed yet another victory today by beating Team Japan 55-48, and crowned the IWRF 2013 Asia Oceania Champions at the LC De Villiers Sports Complex, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

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Australian Steelers reigning Paralympic Champions

IWRF 2013 Asia Oceania Championship SOUTH AFRICA VS JAPAN PARALYMPIC WHEEL CHAIR RUGBY

Katherine Swanepoel takes a tumble during the game against Japan

Âť Photo by: Herman Verwey

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

SPLASH IMAGE: PARALYMPIC RUGBY

Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

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CHAD LE CLOS COULD IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS

» Words by: Karien Jonckheere; Photos by: Herman Verwey

COULD IT GET ANY BETTER THAN CHAD LE CLOS In 2O12 he became Olympic champion, in 2O13 a double world champion.

That makes it just a little tricky to predict how Chad le Clos could possibly top that in 2O14.

But the 21-year-old is not one to rest on his laurels, and he’s constantly thinking up ways to push the boundaries just that little bit further. The target for this year: Commonwealth Games glory. And he’s going big. He already has two Commonwealth titles in the bag, having won gold in the 200 m butterfly and the 40 m individual medley in Delhi in 2010, along with silver in the 4 x 100 m medley relay and bronzes in the 4 x 100 m and 4 x 200 m freestyle relays.

So now his sights are set on becoming the most decorated athlete in any sport in Commonwealth Games history. That’s no small feat, considering that record is currently held by Australian shooter Phillip Adams who amassed a total of 18 medals over five Games.

“I really want to try and win four or five gold medals,” he points out in his characteristic laid-back fashion. “If I look at the overall standings, the most medals is 18 by one person. I’m looking to break records in my own way. I know Commonwealths isn’t as big as Olympics but if I can win a few more there it will set me up nicely.”

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

COVER STORY FEATURE: SWIMMING

THIS?

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CHAD LE CLOS COULD IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS

Le Clos is aiming to qualify to swim the 50 m, 100 m and 200 m butterfly as well as the 200 m and 400 m individual medley at the Games in Glasgow.

“And maybe a 200 m freestyle – that’s why I’ve been swimming it at the World Cups. I’ll try and swim five or six individual races with a few relays and scoop a few medals there,” he adds.

“At the end of the day, it’s about having fun but it’s also about breaking records and just doing things differently.

Winning the Olympics is great but, I think the reason people remember me as opposed to other swimmers is because of Michael Phelps, because he was the greatest of all time and I beat him. I think you need to do something like that – to shake the sport up in a way,” Le Clos muses.

“I think what I’m trying to do – what I need to do is set new boundaries for myself – like one day winning the 50 m, 100 m and 200 m butterfly at the World Championships. If you can do stuff like that, people start remembering you.”

Le Clos’s performances in the last two years have certainly been memorable.

He’s the first to admit that 2013 wasn’t an ideal year for him in terms of a shoulder injury hampering his training. But the Pinetown-based star still managed to break his first world record – the 200 m butterfly short course record in Singapore late last year.

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

COVER STORY FEATURE: SWIMMING

“That was great. It hadn’t been the best year for me preparation-wise so what happened last year was really a bonus for me – I don’t want to take anything for granted, I know that I can do better. It was good and everything but there are still things that I wasn’t happy with.

It sounds crazy but after a competition is over, it’s done for me. I don’t harp on it – like World Cup is done, world record happened – it’s over. I’ve forgotten about it and it’s all about this year now.”

So, could the new year bring with it his first ever long course world record?

“I don’t think this year. I think in 2015 in Russia. I’ll go for that. I want to get the 200 m and the 100 m butterfly world records. And I still believe I will one day win a 400 m medley gold medal.”

Inevitably, as Le Clos rakes in the medals and records, so the pressure mounts, and much is expected of him each time he sets foot on the pool deck.

“Obviously before the Olympics there was no hectic pressure really. No one really knew me. If I came 10th it didn’t really matter. This year, I feel a lot more pressure than I used to. But at the same time it works in a way because then I am the favourite so I can use that to my advantage.”

It’s an advantage he’s seized with gusto and one which, based on the last two years, should have his Commonwealth Games rivals quaking in their goggles.

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CHAD LE CLOS COULD IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS

SIDE BAR

CHAD DIGS… Favourite food:

My dad’s pasta Favourite drink:

Coke Favourite holiday destination:

Mauritius Favourite competition venue:

Dubai Song:

Burning Love by Elvis Hidden talent:

FIFA on PlayStation Most annoying habit:

I love playing with hair. I’m always twirling my hair and playing with other people’s hair – it’s really weird.

Favourite phone app:

Twitter or Fruit Ninja Favourite sport other than swimming:

Soccer Movie:

The Hangover movies TV Series:

Entourage, Two and Half Men, Blue Mountain State

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

COVER STORY FEATURE: SWIMMING

SIDE BAR – LE CLOS JUNIOR

SWIMMING IN THE FAMILY: Give it a few years and there could just be another Le Clos on the podium. Chad’s younger brother, Jordan, is eager to follow in his sibling’s golden footsteps.

“How it started was I saw my brother swimming and I just wanted to try it out and I really enjoyed it,” explained 15-year-old Jordan who also trains with coach Graham Hill.

The Grade 10 Westville Boys High student reckons that being a Le Clos has its good and bad sides. “Chad is a major influence. Ever since I first saw him swimming - he’s always had that drive. And I wanted to be like him so I gave it a shot.

“He gives me some advice in the pool – small things like keeping your head down at the finish, when you tumble turn don’t look up, some underwaters and that kind of thing.”

But then there is always a bit of extra pressure that comes along with being an Olympic and double world champion’s brother.

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CHAD LE CLOS COULD IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS

“It doesn’t bother me that much.

Sometimes it gets in the way a bit but all in all it’s all right.”

Jordan was in London in 2012 to witness his brother being crowned Olympic champion.

“We couldn’t get tickets all together so my parents sat on one side of the stands and I sat by myself and when my brother won I just cried and hugged random people next to me. It was crazy. The atmosphere was electric,” he recalls with a laugh.

By 2020 the roles could just be reversed. “I want to go to the Olympics. 2016 will be a bit of a squeeze because I’ll be only 18 so 2020 will be the one. That’ll be the best year I think for my swimming.

“My times are quite close to what Chad was swimming at my age. In the breaststrokes – his were quite a bit faster but Chad didn’t swim much butterfly when he was younger so my fly is a bit better than his at my age,” added Jordan, who will compete

at his first senior nationals this year.

“I think Jordan has a bright future ahead of him,” reckons big brother Chad. “He’s got everything going for him so the world’s his oyster but I think it’s for him to decide. He needs to want to do it, but he’s got a lot of potential.”

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

INTERNATIONAL SPORT ACHIEVER: SURFSKI/PADDLE SPORT

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Kenny Rice SURFING THE CREST OF SUCCESS

SURFING THE CREST OF

SUCCESS: KENNY RICE

» Words by: Karien Jonckheere; Photos by: Anthony Grote

Kenny Rice is not interested in matric vac.

Grade 10 may be out of the way, but now it’s all about getting in shape to take on the best in the world in a sport he simply can’t get enough of – surfski.

The 18-year-old from Cape Town made history in 2013 when he became the first ever world junior surfski champion. And what made that accomplishment even more spectacular was that the man crowned senior world champion at the same event in Portugal, was his brother Sean.

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

INTERNATIONAL SPORT ACHIEVER: SURFSKI/PADDLE SPORT

The Rice brothers were obviously thrilled when it was announced that the first ever surfski world championships would be held in 2013 and seized the opportunity to make their mark in what is now the biggest event the sport has to offer.

“That was really awesome. Through the years, that was my goal. I always wanted to be a world champion. And then last year when I was training, I started doing a bit better and then I started challenging the other guys,�

explained the younger Rice.

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Kenny Rice SURFING THE CREST OF SUCCESS

“Then they came up with the idea of a surfski world champs and then that became my goal right there and then – to try and win. We had our trials and fortunately I was selected to represent South Africa. It was an amazing trip, really nice people there, a really great event and myself and my brother managed to win which was even better,” Rice told Game On. “That’s not something many other people can share with their older brother so that was quite nice.”

“First of all I started paddling at my local canoe club – Peninsula Canoe Club, when I was about nine because my brother was doing it so I thought I’d give it a try. Then when I was about 12 or 13 I sort of got over it and carried on with my rugby and cricket and all that,” said Rice.

“But then Sean suggested to me that I should go down to the lifesaving club – Fish Hoek Surf Lifesaving Club – and give the lifesaving skis a try. I think I was 14 and I gave that a try and then that’s pretty much when I started my surfskiing.”

Rice’s brother, six years his senior, has played a vital role in his development, including introducing him to the sport.

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

INTERNATIONAL SPORT ACHIEVER: SURFSKI/PADDLE SPORT

“My brother has been a big influence. He’s very helpful. He’s always giving me tips and he’s great to talk to about the sport and he really does help me out as much as possible which is really incredible,” added the talented teenager.

“I didn’t actually realise I was good to begin

with. I just put in a lot of effort. And I saw where my brother was going and how well the other guys were doing and that inspired me to try and up my game and get to the level that they were at.”

It’s this determination and drive to improve that has seen the former Bergvliet High School student making the decision to make 2014 a gap year so he can focus purely on the sport and competing internationally.

“I’ve set my sights on doing some international races this year so I’m going to do some sightseeing at the same time,” Rice says. “ I want to get back into it properly and see if I can give those races a crack. I think the main thing is to keep on having fun. Don’t ever let it not be fun. Don’t get too serious about it because as long as you’re having fun you’re going to put your heart into it.”

“I actually don’t have too many long-term goals but I would definitely want to try and win the world marathon champs. That’s always been a goal of mine ever since I started paddling. And [senior] surfski world champs – that would be flipping awesome,” reckoned Rice who has also represented South Africa in the Canoe Marathon World Championships in Rome.

But first there’s the small matter of beating his older brother. He’s achieved this once before, when his brother mistakenly shot off in the wrong direction in a race. But he’s yet to do it fair and square.

“It was quite funny but it felt quite cool. That would definitely be a highlight if I could beat my own brother one day,” admitted Rice.

Give him a few years and there’s no doubt he’ll be giving the senior world champ a run for his money.

Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

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Dusi 2014 Tough competition expected

With the 2014 Dusi Canoe Marathon a month away all of the top contenders are fully into their training with a number of the more fancied K2 crews taking on the various seeding races happening around the country in the build-up to the race from 13 to 15 February starting at Camps Drift in Pietermaritzburg.

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CANOEING

Tough competition

expected at Dusi 2014

Lance Kime and Thulani Mbanjwa Âť Photo by: John Hishin

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Dusi 2014 Tough competition expected

There are a number of new K2 crews taking part in the race in 2014 which means that the door is wide open and a favourite is going to be difficult to pick with South Africa’s World Marathon champion Hank McGregor teaming up with surfski star Jasper Mocké for the 2014 edition.

Whilst race mode is something that is second nature for the pair,

having a good time and sharing a good bond both on and off the water is something they firmly believe in and their close friendship is something they’ll look to use in their advantage during the race.

Hank McGregor and Jasper Mocké » Photo by: Bertie Baard

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

Although they are both former winners of the Dusi Canoe marathon, the crew of Lance Kime and Thulani Mbanjwa have found themselves playing catch-up following an unfortunate knee injury to Kime that has hampered their running preparations for a vital period of their build-up campaign recently.

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CANOEING

The two have had some disruptions in their training heading into the three-day epic but proved their class when they claimed the win at the Popes Canoe Centre Alan Gardiner Memorial Challenge a few weeks ago. This win would have boosted the confidence of the two as Kime hopes

to add the K2 title to

his K1 crown that

he won in 2013.

Andy Birkett and Sbonelo Zondi » Photo by: Anthony Grote

There will be another World Champion lining up on the start line at Camps Drift – Andy Birkett. The current Under-23 Canoe Marathon World Champion is no stranger to the top step of the podium at the end of the Dusi Canoe Marathon. The three-time champion will be joined by 2013 third place finisher Sbonelo Zondi for this year’s race.

In 2013 Zondi had done absolutely everything right and was on course to become the first black paddler to win the K1 edition of the race but a slip-up on the final day saw Hank McGregor and,

eventual winner, Lance Kime sneak past him in the final stages of the race.

This heartbreak can only have made the ‘Dusi Darling’ more determined to claim the title in 2014.

The newly formed duo overcame their disappointment with victory in the non-stop Dusi just weeks afterwards though and, just a couple of weeks ago, added the prestigious 50 Miler Canoe Marathon’s title to their steadily growing list of achievements.

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Dusi 2014 Tough competition expected

In the women’s race it seems that the 2013 Hansa Fish Canoe Marathon champion’s South African star Abby Adie and Czech Republic paddler Anna Adamova will be the pair to watch out for in 2014 as they plan on adding the prestigious Dusi Canoe Marathon to their already impressive collection of gold medals.

Victories in the Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon, the Ozzie Gladwin presented by Parklane Superspar and the 50 Miler Canoe Marathon have

The Czech star has spent short bursts in South Africa over the past few months which have enabled her and Adie to iron out any minor issues they may have encountered as a brand new pairing, however the vital festive period will be spent apart before Adamová returns in mid-January.

sent the pair’s confidence levels skyhigh, however, residing on opposite sides of the world has hampered their ability to train together in recent weeks.

Abby Adie and Anna Adamova » Photo by: Anthony Grote

Another pair in the women’s race that will be the greatest challenge to Adie and Adamova will be the pair of 2013 K1 winners 34

Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CANOEING

Ulansky, who won her first Dusi title under her maiden name Abbey Miedema in 2003,

went on to win a total of eight Dusi titles, the last of which was with Kime in the K2 championship race in 2012.

They will be aiming to equal the record of three consecutive K2 Dusi victories set up by Debbie Germiquet and Wendy White.

Abby Ulansky and Robyn Kime Âť Photo by: Anthony Grote

Kime is sizing up a unique run of five back-to-back Dusi titles, having won the singles titles in 2013 and 2011, and the doubles titles in 2010 and 2012 with Ulansky.

Robyn Kime and adopted Canadian Abby Ulansky.

Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

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CLYDE FORTUIN GOOD BATTER BEST

GOOD BATTER BEST CLYDE FORTUIN » Words by: Kobus Pretorius; Photos by: Gallo Images SA

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CRICKET

Clyde Fortuin was regarded as one of the best, if not the best, batsmen to play schools cricket in 2013.

His inclusion in the South African Under-19 cricket squad to represent South Africa at the Under-19 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates came as no surprise when it was announced at the closing function of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) Franchise Cubs Week.

Clyde matriculated at Saint Joseph’s College in Rondebosch, situated in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town. He played Coca Cola Cricket for Western Province for three years before he was selected for the national Under-19 team last year.

The wicketkeeper-batsman was the star batsman in a five-match One Day-series against the England Under-19 team a year ago where he was the leading run scorer in the series which South Africa won 5-0.

Clyde’s 291 runs achieved in five innings, was a whopping 100 runs more than the second best – 191 runs by his teammate Murray Coetzee.

The Under-19 tour to India in September and October was less successful for Clyde and the team, even though they reached the final of the triangular series which included India, Australia and Zimbabwe.

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37

CLYDE FORTUIN GOOD BATTER BEST

Clyde was also among the top five run scorers in the 2013 Coca Cola Week with 191 runs in six innings with a highest score of 123.

“I learnt a lot from my first two years in the Under-19 setup,” says Clyde.

I learnt volumes from the players I played with, who have since made their senior provincial debuts.

Conditions in the UAE will probably suit us better than India. The pitches will be harder. I just want to keep learning and keep improving as a player.”

Clyde started playing cricket when he was 10-years-old and represented Western Province for the first time when he was 11.

“The conditions in India were tough.

Having that experience will hopefully help me in the United Arab Emirates.”

“I was 15 when I realised I could actually give cricket a go. I felt I had the talent,” says Clyde.

Clyde says the biggest improvement the side needs to make this time around, is to stick together.

He was also an avid soccer and rugby player where he played flyhalf. “I felt I had a chance to pursue soccer as well.”

“We will have to work better as a team. Last year when things didn’t go our way we weren’t cohesive as a team.

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CRICKET

So why did he choose cricket?

“Cricket is just different to other sports.

There is a real love for the game and a passion. You need to have a passion for cricket because that is what motivates you and keeps you going.”

Clyde initially wanted to be a fast bowler, but when he arrived at Western Province Cricket Club there was no wicketkeeper.

“No-one wanted to be keeper so I just decided to be the bigger man and take the gloves and it stuck from there. I enjoy wicketkeeping. It’s hard work though. There are some days when my legs are really sore.”

He batted at number 5 in the previous Coca Cola Week, where his job was to stabilise the innings. Last year he opened the batting where he had to give the team a good start.

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CLYDE FORTUIN GOOD BATTER BEST

“I like to have a go so I enjoy the role. When you play five-day cricket, it’s really hard to keep wicket and open the batting.

There are days when you bat first and then have a good rest before you field, and then there are days when you have a long 50 overs in the field and then you have to open the batting, which is tough.

I enjoy the challenge. It’s good. As a keeper you have to focus all the time. It requires a lot of concentration.”

Clyde’s personal goals are simple.

“I just want to do well. I want to help South Africa win the Under-19 world cup and do my best. Being a senior player in the side gives me an edge. I know what to expect and how things work at this level.”

The team will meet in Johannesburg for their last camp on the 2nd of February and leave for Dubai on the 7th.

SA Under-19 team: Aiden Markram (capt, The Unlimited Titans), Bradley Bopp (Chevrolet Warriors), Corbin Bosch (The Unlimited Titans), Driaan Bruwer (The Unlimited Titans), Kirwin Christoffels (Chevrolet Warriors), Justin Dill (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Clyde Fortuin (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Dayyaan Galiem (SA U17), Sibonelo Makhanya (Sunfoil Dolphins), Greg Oldfield (Sunfoil Dolphins), Andile Phehlukwayo (SA U17s), Kagiso Rabada (bizhub Highveld Lions), Ngazi Sigwili (Chevrolet Warriors), Jason Smith (Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras), Yaseen Valli (bizhub Highveld Lions).

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CRICKET

FLAVOUR OF THE MONTH: Food: Seafood (fish – calamari and hake)

What do you do to get away from the game?

Enjoy spending time with my friends and my girlfriend.

Walking my dog on the beach. Going for a drive, having a laugh.

Drink: Cola tonic and lemonade

Favourite cricket player?

AB de Villiers

Stats from the 2013 series: England against SA (South Africa won 5-0) Top Run Makers No 1 2 3 4 5

Player Clyde Fortuin Murray Coetzee Jonathan Tattersall Callum Jackson Greg Oldfield

Team SA U19 SA U19 England U19 England U19 SA U19

Innings

Avrg

Highest Score

5 4 5 3 3

58.20 95.50 32.60 46.66 64.50

99 103* 83 62 82

Total Runs 291 191 163 140 129

Stats from the 2013 Coca Cola Week: Top Run Makers No

Player

1 2 3 4 5

Wickus Germishuizen Grant Roelofsen Daniel Griesel Jason Oakes Clyde Fortuin

Team Easterns Gauteng Mpumalanga KZN Coastal WP

School

Innings

Average

Hugenote KES HTS Middleburg Westville St Josephs

7 5 6 6 6

48.80 48.20 41.80 34.66 38.20

Highest Score 73 99 109 75 123*

Total Runs 244 241 209 208 191

Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

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Justin Phillips WP rugby protégé (Hoërskool Waterkloof)

HANDS ON Justin Phillips

WP rugby

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: RUGBY

To be successful you should be able to grab any opportunity that comes your way with both hands, even if such an opportunity should present itself in the form of a slippery fish.

Justin Phillips, a former pupil of Hoërskool Waterkloof and now a WP rugby protégé, has an interesting story to tell about how he once caught a really big fish with his bare hands. It is not an ordinary fisherman’s tale, but a classic example of Phillips’ ability to make the most of an unexpected opportunity.

protégé Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

43

Justin Phillips WP rugby protégé (Hoërskool Waterkloof)

“It happened while I was fishing with friends. I suddenly noticed a big carp that was trapped in a small pond. I could not resist the challenge to go after it and managed to catch it with my bare hands. It was one of the biggest fish I have ever caught.” Phillips said.

This incident shows why the 18-year-old Phillips is so highly rated as a rugby player. His ability to think outside the box in a matter of seconds, is a valuable asset on a rugby field where one of the main challenges for any player is to be able to outwit his rivals. Phillips was one of the stalwarts in the first rugby team of Hoërskool Waterkloof as well as in the Blue Bulls Craven Week Team during the past two years. His quick-thinking prowess as a scrumhalf did not go unnoticed and he was selected to play for the SA Schools Team for two consecutive years. He also received job offers from WP, Blue Bulls and the Sharks while still at school.

“After giving the matter considerable thought, I decided to play for WP because I realised that they offered me the most realistic chance to get regular game time.” Phillips experienced his first taste of playing rugby with the big boys over the December holidays when he was invited to attend the Stormers training camp.

According to the youngster it was an awesome experience. “I will admit that I was quite nervous at first to suddenly step onto the same field as the heroes whom I have previously only watched on television. I felt like a Grade 8 pupil on his first day at high school again, but the senior players went out of their way to make me feel welcome.” Phillips’ goal for this season is to cement his place in WP’s Under-19 side. If an opportunity to play for the WP Vodacom Team should arise, he would certainly not mind either.

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: RUGBY

“I fully realise that this season is a big step up for me and that I should focus on taking one step at a time.”

Phillips has been running with a rugby ball ever since he can remember. He was also an avid cricket player up to Grade 10. The turning point in favour of rugby came when he was selected for the SA Schools Team for the first time.

“I was in Grade 11 when it happened. I then realized that playing rugby could become a full-time career and decided to stop playing competitive cricket.”

Playing scrumhalf himself, it should be no surprise that Phillips admires the playing style of the Springbok scrumhalf, Fourie du Preez.

“Fourie is an awesome player. I really admire his cool and collective approach to the game. He does not easily get fazed by what is happening around him on the field. He has mastered the ability to dictate a game and to frustrate his opponents. Fourie’s tactical kicking ability is brilliant.”

“My playing style as scrumhalf differs slightly from that of Fourie. I also love to have the ball in hand, trying to outfox my opponents, but I am still working on my tactical kicking ability.” When he was asked what he considered as the highlights of his school rugby days, Phillips had no hesitation in saying that having been a member of the Hoërskool Waterkloof team that beat Affies in 2012 was a definite highlight.

“It was the first time in six years that we played against them. Playing in front of a crowd of approximately 20 000 spectators made it even more special.”

Being selected for the second time for the SA Schools team was another highlight. “To me, personally, it meant much more the second time, because in rugby you can never take anything for granted.” It would be interesting to see whether Phillips will be in the SA under-19 squad that will be announced within the next few weeks.

Knowing him, he will certainly make the most of the opportunity if it should come his way.

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Marcel Roberts Is Chess a sport or is it a game? (Hoërskool Waterkloof)

Chess:

Is it a sport or is it a game?

It’s a given that two people will seldom share the same opinion when this question is asked. In fact, the question will usually lead to heated debates between the chess fanatics and the sceptics.

When the question was posed on the www.debate.org website, the reactions made for quite interesting reading.

One of the arguments posted for chess not being a sport read as follows: “The reason I have decided to declare chess not a sport is that there is no physical movement involved. To make an activity a sport, there must be some physical action involved. Football is a sport. Tennis is a sport. However, chess is not and neither are video games.”

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CHESS An argument for chess being a sport read as follows: “Most people are of the opinion that sport requires physical exertion. That is a fairly arbitrary criterion, considering that every sport requires a different degree and focus of physical strength. Right now, there are five ‘mind’ sports that are recognised by the International Olympic Committee. They are: ‘go’ (a board game for two players that originated in China more than 2 500 years ago), draughts, poker, bridge, and chess. It seems that chess is considered not to be a sport simply because people are unable to notice the mental torture that players go through during chess matches. Championships require

Marcel Roberts (Hoërskool Waterkloof), who is one of South Africa’s top ten Under-18 players according to the World Chess Federation rankings, will vouch from practical experience that chess is definitely a sport.

“I once played a game that lasted nearly five hours. If you are not fit it is impossible to stay focused and think clearly. I know from personal experience that the fitter I am the better I play in a game that lasts a few hours,” Roberts said.

The 17-year-old certainly does not resemble the stereotype perception most people have of chess players. At first glance he might be mistaken for a rugby or cricket player.

“I do play cricket. Actually it is one of my favourite sports. In

multiple matches, all of which demand extensive focus and concentration. Some people disagree (usually casual players and non-players), but tournaments are exhausting. Chess is truly a sport of endurance and a wonderful mix of sport, art, and science.”

The internet debate concluded with 63% of the people who participated considering chess to be a sport, while 38% reckoned it was not.

fact I was a great fan of Herchelle Gibbs. It was a pure adrenaline rush to watch Herschelle bat when he was on form.”

He is also quite clued up on the statistics of the current Protea cricket players.

Roberts, who considers himself as an all-rounder, has set some definite goals for this season. He also plays some rugby and soccer but that is just to keep fit for those marathon chess games.

“I became interested in chess when I was six years old and watched my dad giving my nephew a few pointers to improve his chess. It did not take long before I also wanted to play.”

A definite highlight for him came in 2011 when he won the Under-16 boys title at the National Championships in Port Elizabeth.

play two quick games against Gary Kasparov.

The Russian is considered by many to be the greatest chess player of all time. From 1986 until his retirement in 2005, Kasparov was ranked as the world’s number one player for 225 out of 228 months. Kasparov also holds records for consecutive professional tournament victories (15) and Chess Oscars (11).

“I would have loved to have an indepth discussion about chess with Kasparov, but there was just not enough time.”

Roberts is also a fan of the late Bobby Fischer, another chess legend.

“He is a role model to me. He was absolutely brilliant and a great chess strategist. Even today most people battle to understand some of his plays.”

A hugely memorable occasion was when he had the opportunity to

Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

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Somari Els IS Exceptional (Hoërskool Waterkloof)

Exceptionally Somari Els It is always difficult to predict what will happen in somebody’s life, because we usually do not know what will happen from one moment to the next. But sometimes the odd exception occurs. For instance, no fortune-teller will be needed to tell us that Somari Els will still be throwing around ‘things’ in 2014.

Els will certainly no longer be throwing toys out of a cot. She is, in fact, highly talented both as a discus thrower and a netball player. It stands to reason, therefore, that she will continue to do some serious throwing in 2014, both on the netball court and the athletics field.

The former pupil of Hoërskool Waterkloof was selected last year for the SA Under-18 netball team and also represented Gauteng North at the South African Junior Athletics Championships where she won a silver medal in discus throwing. At the SA Schools Championships she won a bronze medal in the discus.

If everything goes according to plan this year, she will represent South Africa at the Junior World Athletics Championships in Eugene, United States. She will also help the University of Bloemfontein to defend their Varsity Cup netball title.

It is not always easy to be multi-talented. Els realises that she may have to choose between athletics and netball at some stage in the foreseeable future.

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: NETBALL

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Somari Els IS Exceptional

“I will probably continue to play netball because I love the camaraderie that goes with a team sport but, on the other hand, it will be very special to maybe represent South Africa at an Olympic Games one day. I will try to continue participating in both sports for as long as possible.”

Like any other youngster, Els also has her role models. In athletics it is the legendary Elizna Naudé who dominated discus throwing for women for nearly a decade.

“Elizna is an awesome athlete as well as a person. She definitely helped me to master the technique of discus throwing.”

“In netball I consider Maryka Holtzhausen and Erin Burger as players from whom I can learn a lot.”

“Even though Erin has been sidelined because of injuries, I still consider her to be a legend. It takes some doing to be named Player of the Tournament at the 2011 World Netball Championships. I could not help but notice that the television commentators still referred to her last year, even though she was not playing. That certainly shows that she has done something right on the netball courts.”

“As goal defence player, I look forward to playing with Maryka who plays at goal attack. She is also in the Free State team.”

When asked what she considered as the highlights of her netball playing days at school, Els immediately mentioned the match in which Hoërskool Waterkloof beat Hoërskool Menlopark by one goal.

“There was much pressure on us to win, especially because everybody talked about the game beforehand. This meant that more than the usual number of spectators came to watch the game and we did not want to disappoint our loyal fans. It was a huge relief to have won.

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: NETBALL

“Finishing third at the SA Schools Tournament was also special, as was being selected for the national schools team.”

When asked if she had any advice for young players, Els said that the most important thing for any young athlete to remember is to have fun when participating in sport.

“I have learned that when you enjoy yourself, you are successful as well.”

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Bicyc

THE Benson Sisters I want to ride my bike (HoĂŤrskool Waterkloof)

I wantbicyc to ride my bicyc bike I want

ride m

Bicycl

bicycle bicycle

I want t

ride my 52

Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

cle

cle

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CYCLING

These lyrics from the song ‘Bicycle Race’ were written

by Freddie Mercury for the rock group ‘Queen’.

cle

to

my

le

Photo By Gerda Benson

e e

Although Mercury was inspired by the 1975 Tour de France, there can hardly be a better description of the Benson sisters’ addiction to cycling.

Michelle and Lynette Benson from Hoërskool Waterkloof live for cycling.

to

y bicycle Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

53

THE Benson Sisters I want to ride my bike (Hoërskool Waterkloof)

According to Lynette (Grade 10 pupil) there is no greater thrill for her than riding at the highest possible speed on her road bike.

“Once your bike’s wheels really get going and you ride faster and faster, you experience this amazing sense of freedom.

I just love it.”

With this attitude it should be no surprise that she won the Under-16 women’s race of the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge.

» Photo by: Lynette Benson

» Photo by: Cycling SA

Even after a crash, Michelle still managed to finish second in the junior women’s race of the 94.7 Cycle Challenge.

Michelle (Grade 12 pupil) is excited about the semi-professional contract to ride for the Bestmed/ASG women’s road cycling team that she has secured.

However, this definitely does not mean that she will stop racing her mountain bike.

She still has some unfinished business as a mountain biker.

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

Michelle was selected to represent South Africa at the UCI Cross Country World Championships in Pietermaritzburg, but unfortunately everything went haywire for her.

In the first lap she was flying through the air in a spectacular crash.

She even has a photo to prove it. As a result of the crash, her bike’s chain got stuck and she had no option other than running to the first tech zone where it took three mechanics to loosen the chain.

But this was not the last of her problems. Because her bike’s cassette was also damaged in the crash, she could only ride in the big chain ring and her chain kept slipping off.

In spite of all these frustrations she never considered to quit and eventually finished 34th.

» Photo by: Dimension Sport

Despite all these mishaps, Michelle was not in the least despondent after her disastrous ride.

“The opportunity to represent South Africa at a world championship was a huge honour. It was also an amazing experience to walk among the world’s best riders and to see them racing.” » Photo by: Gerda Benson

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55

THE Benson Sisters I want to ride my bike (Hoërskool Waterkloof)

Both sisters hope to medal in the individual time trial as well as in the road race at the South African Junior Road Championships.

They also aim to get podium finishes at the SA Cross Country Cup races.

Understandably they would love to represent South Africa at the Cross Country World Cup in Pietermaritzburg.

In 2012 Michelle won silver medals in both the road events.

» Photo by: Rex Benson

The sisters’ sporting talents are not restricted only to cycling. They are talented hockey players as well. In fact, even though Michelle has received provincial colours in hockey she opted to quit playing hockey in order to have more time for cycling.

For Lynette matters are even more complicated. She is a keen dancer, loves to play hockey and loves cycling as well. Her problem is to find a way to juggle Photo By Gerda Benson these three passions.

To make matters somewhat easier for herself, she has decided to drop dancing as one of her official school subjects and to dance only at a ballet academy.

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

“It would be much easier for me if my hockey games could be played after 12 o’clock on Saturdays. It would enable me to race early in the morning and still be in time to play hockey. It would also mean that I would be nicely warmed up when we start playing.” Lynette explains.

Both sisters consider Marianne Vos from the Netherlands as their role model. They are fully justified in using the word ‘awesome’ when talking about Vos’s exploits on the bike.

At the age of 19 she won the world cyclo-cross title.

Vos added track racing world championships when she won the points’ race in 2008 and the scratch race in 2011. In the 2008 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in the points’ race; in the 2012 Summer Olympics, gold in the women’s road race. She is also a three-times World Road Race Champion, winning in 2006, 2012 and 2013.

» Photo by: Rex Benson

» Photo By Cycho Media

Last year Hoërskool Waterkloof won the Anatomic Mountain Bike School series for the fourth consecutive time.

At the National Spur Event at Bekker Hoërskool both the school’s girls’ team and their mixed team were victorious.

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Robert du Preez Jnr LIKE DAD, LIKE SON: THE DU PREEZ LEGACY LIVES ON!

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: RUGBY

» Words by: Ockert de Villiers

Inspired by his father’s legacy, Robert du Preez Jnr is already showing the potential to also pull the Springbok jersey over his head in the future.

Du Preez Snr’s approach to the scrumhalf position broke the mould with his physique, being a tall halfback instead of the typical pint-sized player.

While his son started out as a scrumhalf fashioning his style on how his father played, Du Preez Jnr was moved to flyhalf in his matric year in 2011.

Robert du Preez Snr (Dad in his playing days)

“I started out as a scrumhalf and my father was basically my idol and when I moved to flyhalf I looked up to players like Dan Carter, who is very good with his general play,” Du Preez says.

The year after finishing school he featured in the victorious Junior Springbok team that beat New Zealand in the Junior World Championship Final held in Cape Town.

In 2013 he was again called up into the Springbok Under-20 squad as first-choice flyhalf for the World Championship in France where the team finished in third place.

Under-21 team, so from my point of view it was a successful season and in 2014 I hope to improve on last year,” he says.

Rugby talent runs deep in the Du Preez household with Robert Jnr’s younger twin siblings Daniel (lock) and Jean-Luc (flanker) having been selected for the SA Schools team for the second successive year in 2013. In 2011 all three brothers featured in the Kearsney College 1st XV. All three siblings inherited their father’s lanky genes, with the older brother displaying the greatest likeness to Robert Snr.

“I was with the SA Under20s and I’ve played a full season for the Sharks Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

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Robert du Preez Jnr LIKE DAD, LIKE SON: THE DU PREEZ LEGACY LIVES ON!

While young athletes are often over-eager to advance into the senior ranks, Du Preez Jnr has taken a more mature approach to achieving his long-term goals. He nevertheless achieved all his objectives in 2013, again playing for the Junior Springboks and receiving regular starts in the Sharks’ Under-21 team.

“Those are the goals that I set for myself and I was very happy when I achieved all of them,” Du Preez Jnr says.

He says while he has aspirations to earn a place in the senior Sharks team he is more than willing to work his way up through the ranks.

Robert du Preez Snr (Dad)

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: RUGBY

“I want to play another year for the Under-21s and Vodacom Cup and maybe earn one or two caps for the senior Sharks team,” he explains.

“Those are my goals for the year and I hope to have another year then I can take it from there,” he tells Game On.

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Robert du Preez Jnr LIKE DAD, LIKE SON: THE DU PREEZ LEGACY LIVES ON!

Daniel du Preez

(Robert’s younger brother)

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: RUGBY

“There is really good competition at Under-21 level and one can take a lot out of playing at that level for two years. It is not the highest level, but it allows you to express yourself.”

The 20-year-old concedes that moving up the senior ranks at the coastal union is easier said than done with a wealth of talented pivots coming through the Sharks structures.

Last year saw Fred Zeilinga making his breakthrough for the Durban team in the Currie Cup, while Springbok flyhalves Pat Lambie and Butch James are the standout senior players.

Fighting to cement a place is, however, a challenge Du Preez relishes and he believes it would only help him to ultimately become a better player.

“Competition is always good and there are good flyhalves, but I am still young and a player like Fred, who is also still young, is an example of what can be done. So hopefully I can do the same.”

In the meantime, Du Preez says he would like to improve his kicking game to complement his attacking, defensive and distribution abilities.

Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

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EXPECTED RELEASE: 24 JANUARY 2014

®

0861 - 4 - GAMES • WWW.BTGAMES.CO.ZA • 52 STORES NATIONWIDE Stock may vary per store. Terms and conditions apply.

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CRICKET

» Photo by: Cricket Council

“backyard cricketers”

heroes in the makinG Suné Luus & Abrie Smit Many success stories in sports originate in backyard gardens where young children try to emulate the successes of their heroes.

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65

Suné Luus & Abrie Smit “backyard cricketers” heroes in the making

Sometimes these unofficial ‘tests’ are the beginnings of great things to come.

Research shows that the careers of quite a few sporting greats started off with fiercely contested games that were played somewhere in a garden.

It is still too early to tell whether the feats of the two enthusiastic young garden cricketers, Suné Luus and Abrie Smit (both in matric at the Hoërskool Menlopark) will lead to international success, but the early indications are that there might just be great futures ahead for them.

Luus was selected to play for the South African women’s cricket team in 2012 when she was only 16.

At the end of last year she had already played nine one-day games for South Africa and eight international Twenty20 games.

At the time of writing she is representing South Africa in a tournament in Qatar as part of the team’s preparation for the ICC T20 World Cup (6 March-16 April) in Bangladesh.

Smit has represented the Northerns Under-15 and Under-17 sides and will be captaining the first cricket team of the Hoërskool Menlopark this season. Those who have seen him play predict that the wicket-keeping batsman has what it takes to make it in professional cricket.

Luus and Smit started to learn the basics of cricket together, being coached by their dads in unofficial coaching clinics that were held in their gardens.

Needless to say that they spent many hours together, practising their cricket skills of course.

» Photo: Petrus Coetzee

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CRICKET

Smit admits that he frequently has to succumb to Luus’s leg-break bowling deliveries.

“To be honest, I don’t enjoy being bowled by Suné. It is rather humiliating, but I will give her credit for being a good bowler. If you’re not focused when she bowls, you are sure to lose your wicket.”

Luus is quick to point out that Smit sometimes punishes her bowling.

“He has hit quite a few sixes off me. So I guess that matters tend to even out in the end.”

Even though she has played a number of games for South Africa, Luus has not had many opportunities to bowl or bat. She has only taken one wicket in international cricket so far, because she does not often get the opportunity to bowl.

“It was an amazing feeling to take a wicket. I did not hold back on my emotions when I celebrated taking my first wicket for South Africa. I guess I looked like a female version of Imram Tahir (Proteas spinbowler). I am actually quite an emotional player who likes to express myself on the field.”

Luus regards the former Protea batsman, Jacques Rudolph, as her role model. She admits that she is trying to model her legbreak bowling action on his.

» Photo: Gallo Images SA

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Suné Luus & Abrie Smit “backyard cricketers” heroes in the making

Luus considers herself to be a bowling all-rounder.

One of her best performances was when she played for Northerns against Limpopo. She hit 150 runs and took four wickets in seven overs, conceding only one run. Her best bowling performance up till now was when she took 8/15 against WP.

Luus also excelled in athletics, and achieved provincial colours as a javelin thrower. She used to be an avid tennis player, but due to her cricket commitments she does not get much time to play any longer.

Luus said she learned two very important lessons from Smit. They are that patience is a virtue and that you should never quit, no matter how tough things might get.

According to Smit, what he admires most about Luus as a cricketter, is that she is so very humble.

“I am the same kind of batsman that Kallis used to be. Once I have played myself in, I can make things difficult for the bowlers.”

His best batting performance was when he toured with Hoërskool Menlopark in England last year. He scored an unbeaten 184 runs in one game. His best provincial batting performance was when he played for Northerns Under-15 against Mpumalanga and scored 104 runs.

Is it not difficult to be a top order batsman/ wicketkeeper and captain as well?

“No I relish the challenge. I like to captain. It helps me to perform at a higher level because I have to remain focused throughout the game. I also feel that I know how to get each of my teammates to step up their game a notch.”

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“In spite of playing for South Africa, she is still the same Suné with whom I played cricket in the garden. Nothing has changed.”

Smit said that Jacques Kallis, who was hailed as the third best batsman of all time in international cricket when he retired in December, is his role model. As a wicketkeeper he admires Australia’s Brad Haddin.

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CRICKET

Smit used to be quite a fiery hooker. He loved the physical contact that comes with playing rugby. He played for the Northerns Under-16 B-team.

“Unfortunately I had to choose between playing cricket and rugby.”

In his free time Smit loves to play golf. His handicap varies between 7 and 11.

» Photo: Gallo Images SA

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Vanes-Mari a girl on the move

S E N A V

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The 25-year-old defender jetted off to Adelaide at the beginning of December to join the Thunderbabes – the training group for the illustrious AZN League team, the Adelaide Thunderbirds.

She is the first South African to be invited to join one of the Australian AZN teams.

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: NETBALL

“It’s a huge opportunity and such an honour,” Vanes-Mari enthused.

“They have had their eye on me for some time, and all being well, I will play for the Thunderbirds themselves in 2015. That gives me time to finish my university degree at Tuks before setting about trying to make a career out of netball. It is all so exciting.”

T

he Thunderbirds are one of the top teams in the lucrative Australia-New Zealand league, which is regarded as the world’s toughest. “The AZN League is the reason Australia and New Zealand are the best teams in the world,” said Vanes-Mari. “The experience I’ll get playing for the Thunderbirds will be invaluable, and I hope it will open the door to other South Africans being invited to play for AZN teams.”

Vanes-Mari was named Most Valued Player at the African Championships in Blantyre, Malawi, earlier this year, and was also voted 2013 Sportswoman of the Year at Pretoria University. “I was thrilled about that,” she said. “Usually it goes to athletes or swimmers or people like that.

Tuks have some great sportswomen, like Caster Semenya and Bridgitte Hartley, who have both won Olympic medals, so I was particularly pleased that netball was recognised.”

However, the tall blonde will not be lost to South African netball. “I’ll be available for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year, and I will also make sure that I am available to play for South Africa in the World Championships in Sydney in 2015.”

Photo by: Image SA

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Vanes-Mari a girl on the move

Netball is Vanes-Mari’s big passion, but she admits she is also something of an adrenalinjunkie. “I love extreme sports – snowboarding, surfing, etc. I haven’t been bungee jumping yet, but that’s definitely on my ‘to do list.’ Of course, I have to be careful that I don’t do anything that could affect my netball, but I just love to feel the adrenalin pumping.

Like many other top netball players, Vanes-Mari said she owed much to the sport. “My family isn’t particularly welloff, and at times, the money I’ve earned coaching over weekends has helped us get through tough times. No-one in my family has a degree, but because of netball, I’ve been able to go to university. I have a netball scholarship, and I stay in one of the netball houses on the campus. So I owe netball a lot,” she said.

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: NETBALL

Netball South Africa (NSA) President Mimi Mthethwa said NSA were delighted that Vanes-Mari had been invited to train with the Thunderbirds. “It is an acknowledgement that South Africa are now one of the top netball countries,” she said.

Mthethwa praised Vanes-Mari for having kept NSA informed about her plans. “Sometimes players just go off without letting us know what they’re doing, but VanesMari went about it in the right way, and got our permission. The Thunderbirds coach also spoke to us about her in advance.”

“We are sure that more players will follow Vanes-Mari.

What is important is that she is not being lost to South African netball – and particularly to the SPAR Proteas – and she can pass on what she learns while playing with one of the best clubs in the world. The more our players are exposed to top-class netball, the better.

Our aim is to challenge the Big Three – Australia, New Zealand and England.

We beat England last month, and we believe we are now ready to take our place among the top three netball countries.”

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2014 sprinters rewriting the record books

2014 sprinters

2014 might just turn out to be the year when South African sprinters will begin to rewrite the record books. And it will be none too soon.

Johan Rossouw’s South African record (10.06s) dates back as far as 1988 and Morné Nagel set his South African 200 m record (20.11s) in 2002.

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The first near breakthrough occurred last year when Simon Magakwe equalled Rossouw’s record time of 10.06s on the track of the University of Johannesburg.

Last season Anaso Jobodwana came close on two occasions. On 24 May, in Greensboro, he ran a time of

10.10s and, just to prove that it was no fluke, he again ran a time of 10.10s in Kazan on 8 July.

He also came close to improving Nagel’s 200 m record when he twice ran a time of 20.13s at different international meetings.

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: ATHLETICS

Akani Simbane 100 m: 10.19s

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2014 sprinters rewriting the record books

Henrico Bruintjies won the 100 m at the SA Student Championship in Durban in a time of 10.06s. Unfortunately for him and the statisticians the wind did not play along and the time was classified as ‘unofficial wind assisted’.

Last year Akani Simbane set a new SA Junior record when he ran the 100 m in a time of 10.19s in Lusaka.

It is encouraging to note that the abovementioned three athletes with the speedy performances are all still youngsters.

Jobodwana is 21 and Simbane and Bruintjies are both 20. It will be safe to predict that at least one, but hopefully all three of them, will be able to run faster times in the foreseeable future.

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Bruintjies’ involvement in athletics is actually quite interesting. He made his comeback to athletics two years ago when he realised that rugby was not really the game for him.

“I have no regrets about playing rugby at school. In fact, I needed to play rugby to realise that I missed running at full speed, challenging the stopwatch.”

Bruintjies is full of praise for Maurice Visser.

Maurice has undoubtedly had the biggest influence on my athletics career.

“Two years ago, when I decided to make a comeback to athletics, it was Maurice who assisted and encouraged me.”

In reply to a question whether he had any role models, Bruintjies said it was difficult to single out a role model at the moment.

“So many things happened last year and not all of them were good. This makes it difficult to have sprinting role models at the moment.”

Bruintjies was referring to the fact that Tyson Gay, the world’s second fastest sprinter, and Asafa Powell, a former world record holder, both tested positive for banned substances this season.

As far as Usain Bolt is concerned, Bruintjies said that, although he respects the achievements of the Jamaican sprinter, he is not really one of his fans.

“Don’t get me wrong. I think it is the dream of every young sprinter to run against Bolt and I would also love to run against him.”

Bruintjies, who grew up in Paarl, is currently coached by Hennie Kriel at Tukkies.

Bruintjies admits that there are minor flaws in his technique that still need to be sorted out before he will be able to fire on all cylinders.

“But the one aspect I am happy with is my start. I don’t want to brag, but I am quite quick out of the starting blocks.”

Bruintjies does not want to make wild predictions about running fast times.

“Of course I set goals for myself, but I will only talk about them once I have achieved what I had set out to do.

“I would love to represent South Africa at next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.”

Bruintjies will also try to qualify for the World Indoor Championship.

Âť Photo by: Reg Caldecott

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: ATHLETICS

Henrico Bruintjies 100 m: 10.06s

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DUWAYNE BOER ‘n BOER MAAK ‘n PLAN

The year 2013 was supposed to be an easy year for Duwayne Boer of the TuksSport School. He was not about to make life difficult for himself with any pressing goals, neither in the long jump nor in the triple jump.

But then he surprised himself.

‘n BOER

MAAK

‘n PLAN: DUWAYNE BOER

Eighteen-year-old Boer won the long jump at the African Junior Championships in Mauritius. He was crowned the South African Junior Champion, as well as the South African Schools Champion and, to top it all, he won a bronze medal at the South African Senior Championships.

But this was not the end of his success. At the African Junior Championships in Mauritius he won a bronze medal in the triple jump as well.

All in all, it was certainly not too shabby for somebody who was planning to just ‘cruise’ through his season.

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: ATHLETICS/LONG JUMP

Neil Cornelius, his coach at Tuks Athletics Club, attributes Boer’s success to two factors:

absolute dedication and unfaltering discipline.

“Duwayne never missed a training session last year,” Cornelius beams with pride. While the athletics season was in full swing he never went home once. The only time he saw his parents was for a few minutes during the South African Senior Championships in Stellenbosch. According to Cornelius, Duwayne even insisted on doing one last training session the morning before he left for Cape Town for a well-deserved December holiday.

“With

such dedication, success is inevitable.”

“I am not surprised that Duwayne managed to improve his personal best to 7.81 m in the long jump, and to 15.71 m in the triple jump.”

Photo By Neil Cornelius

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DUWAYNE BOER ‘n BOER MAAK ‘n PLAN Both these jumps placed him in the top ten on the all-time list for South African junior athletes.

“Hopefully last year was just the beginning of great things for Duwayne. He is capable of winning a medal in the long jump at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon (22-27 July).”

Boer and Cornelius actually set high goals for themselves. They hope to double up at the World Championships, with Boer competing in the triple jump at the World Junior Championships as well.

“I have checked the dates. It will be possible for him to compete in both events and, with a little bit of luck, he might be able to medal in the triple jump as well,” Cornelius said.

This raises the question of which is Boer’s best event …

The long jump or the triple jump?

“I honestly don’t know and I hope I don’t have to make a choice in the foreseeable future. I hope to be able to compete in both events for as long as possible,” Boer said.

Cornelius reckons he will be able to do so.

“It helps that Duwayne uses different legs to lead with for the long jump and the triple jump. The basic techniques for the two jumps are very similar.”

Boer, who grew up in Eersterivier in the Western Cape, used to be an avid rugby player. While he was a pupil at Paul Roos Gymnasium he played wing for both the Under-14A and the Under-15A teams, but eventually he decided that rugby was not really the game for him.

Photo By Reinhard van Zyl

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“I prefer the challenge of individual sports,” Boer explains.

“In team sport it’s possible to win or look good, even when you yourself are having a bad day. In individual sports you have no team to hide behind. If you are not prepared to put in the required effort, you can forget about being successful.”

“It is important to remember that as a long jumper or triple jumper you are always just as good as your last jump. There is nothing that you can do to change that.”

“I am basically competing against myself, trying to push myself to the absolute limit, and I love it.”

Boer sees the Aussie, Mitchell Watt, who won silver at last year’s Olympic Games in London, as a role model. “What I appreciate about Watt is his ability to make jumping very far look oh so easy. That is what I am striving to do myself. I don’t want to complicate things when competing.”

“I am also a great admirer of Khotso Mokoena, South African record holder in the long jump, as well as the triple jump.”

The challenging goal for any long jumper who is serious about his sport is to jump farther than eight metres.

Photo By Reg Caldecott

“I never think about distances while I am competing, because it is a certain way to put pressure oneself. I know I am capable of jumping farther than eight metres, but it will happen when it is meant to happen. In the meantime I am just focusing on doing the basics right.”

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SOMIEN SCHUTTE STREAKS AHEAD

S K A E R T S : D A E H A 84

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: ATHLETICS / TRIPLE JUMP

E T T U H C S N E I SOM In South Africa the words ‘women’s triple jump’ and ‘excitement’ are not likely to be used in the same sentence.

To be brutally honest, in South Africa the women’s triple jump has been stagnant for many years.

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WOMEN’S SPORT ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, FAIL? SOMIEN SCHUTTE STREAKS AHEAD

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MAIN FEATURE: WOMEN’S SPORT PERFORMANCE ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: ATHLETICS / TRIPLE JUMP

In 1992 Charmaine Barnard jumped 13.46 m in Bloemfontein, setting a new South African record.

Nineteen years elapsed before another local athlete was able to jump farther than 13 m.

The only athletes who managed to jump farther than 13 m since Charmaine Barnard set her record, were Kelly Kingwell (13.23 m – 2012), Maksie Dikotla (13.27 m – 2012), Cindy Peters (13.39 m – 2011), Charlene Potgieter (13.80 m – 2012) and Patience Ntshingila (13.89 m – 2012).

To put this into perspective it is interesting to note that last year as many as 20 athletes managed to jump farther than 14 m in international athletics. Olha Saladuha (Ukraine) was the top athlete with an attempt of 14.85 m.

When one takes this sad history into account, it’s no wonder that the recent performances by the 15-year-old Somien Schutte (Hoërskool Eduplex in Pretoria) stirred up some attention. Not only was she unbeaten in the local schools’ athletics meetings, she also improved her personal best to 12.13 m. From a South African athletics perspective this is a huge achievement.

Schutte is the youngest athlete (youth, junior and senior) who managed to clear more than 12 m. an Last year, when she jumped 11.73 m at the h st age of 14, she was the youngest to go past s le ’. o the 11 m marker. n er

on ond r e rk hit w ia a m ne- tor m ‘o Pre 2 1 o e ly n s in h t ar rtain eting m e l e me c .13 c d 2 l s ou she i two of 1 c at ump he ns, s m tj s sio a 5 0 g ca es . n b 2 i 1 c r e Se ee o ped d he r th jum duce n. o e Sh pro ond d L an ast E in

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SO

SOMIEN SCHUTTE STREAKS AHEAD

M

If everything goes according to plan and Schutte is selected to represent South Africa at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China (16-28 August 2014), she will have a small taste of what the Games will be all about.

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IE

Neil Cornelius, her coach at Tuks Athletics, has no qualms about referring to Schutte as a future Olympian.

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pi

“But there is no rush. Somien and I often talk about the Olympics. The goal we have set for ourselves is for her to peak in time for the 2020 Games,” Cornelius says. “We both fully realise that there are no short cuts in athletics. Because Somien is still growing, she needs to develop by taking baby steps. By 2020 she will be fully grown and taller.”

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: ATHLETICS / TRIPLE JUMP

Schutte’s sporting talents are not merely restricted to jumping. She used to be an avid hockey player who didn’t take any nonsense on the field. Cornelius says one of his favourite stories about Schutte’s brief hockey career was when a schools team played against a team of teachers.

“Somien fractured one of the teachers’ ankles, but it was an accident,” he adds hastily.

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SOMIEN SCHUTTE STREAKS AHEAD

Last year Schutte decided to focus only on athletics. “What I love about athletics

is that you have only yourself to blame if things start going wrong,” she tells Game On.

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: ATHLETICS / TRIPLE JUMP

According to Schutte she is crazy about sports. She just loves sports, any sport. One of her favourite pastimes is watching rugby.

Naturally she supports the Bulls, with JJ Engelbrecht and Jan Serfontein who are two of her favourite players. Quinton de Kock, the cricketer, and tennis player David Ferrer, are two of her other heroes.

When asked about her goals, she explained that she was not thinking of specific distances at the moment.

“There are certain meetings that I definitely want to win. As far as I am concerned, an athletics title is forever, but you only ‘borrow’ a record.”

“Therefore, at the moment our focus is on ensuring that Somien does the little things right.”

To this Cornelius added that, as a coach, he firmly believes that when an athlete has mastered the basics it is merely a matter of time before the big jumps will be achieved.

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POWER THE LABUSCHAGNE SISTERS TO THE POWER OF THREE (Hoërskool Wonderboom)

TO THE

OF

» Words by: Karien Jonckheere; Photos by: Reg Caldecott

Olivia

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SindY

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: LONG-DISTANCE RUNNING

THE LABUSCHAGNE SISTERS

THREE

South Africa has its own set of triplets to keep an eye on, as the Labuschagne sisters – Olivia, Alicia and Sindy – have been making waves of their own.

In 2012 Nigeria’s first ever Olympic gold medallist in a field event, Chioma Ajunwa, made headlines when she gave birth to triplets. Several years from now the West African trio may just follow in their famous mom’s footsteps.

Alicia

But the Pretoria triplets all finished in the top 10 overall standings of their age group in the 2013 Spar Women’s Grand Prix – Alicia second, Olivia tied fourth and Sindy joint ninth.

In fact, in the Pretoria 10 km race of the famous Spar Series, the 18-year-olds claimed a clean sweep of the podium places in the junior event.

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THE LABUSCHAGNE SISTERS TO THE POWER OF THREE (Hoërskool Wonderboom)

POWER TO THE

OF THREE They achieved similar success at the 2012 SA Youth Championships where they finished first, second and third respectively in the 2000 m steeple chase as well – prompting a good deal of interest in the talented Hoërskool Wonderboom students.

“At first we participated in all events, from Grade One. Then in Grade Four, a coach spotted us and she said we were talented and we must go and train with her, and so that’s when we started,” explained Olivia, the youngest of the three.

“Our mom did crosscountry and athletics at school and our dad ran short distance so we must get the genes from our mom,” Alicia smiled.

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: LONG-DISTANCE RUNNING

“We run short distance for school but we prefer longdistance running.

So when we get a chance to do longer distances – like for the Spar women’s 10 km races then we’ll go and do that by ourselves. At school we don’t participate in any race shorter than 400 m.”

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THE LABUSCHAGNE SISTERS TO THE POWER OF THREE (Hoërskool Wonderboom) The three girls explained that they always train together and after completing matric at the end of 2014, they plan to stay together to be able to forge their athletics careers together as well.

POWER TO THE

OF THREE

“It’s really great running together because then we can motivate each other. It makes a big difference having each other because say if I drop back a bit then Alicia will shout at me and when I see them going round a corner or something I’ll shout ‘Go Alicia’ and it’s the same with Olivia. If I’m just behind her then I’ll say: ‘Come Olivia, stay with me.’ We couldn’t really do it without that motivation,” reckoned Sindy.

And while they’re the first to admit they’re not specifically competitive by nature, it’s simply the love of the sport that keeps them interested and inspired.

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: LONG-DISTANCE RUNNING

“It’s just such a great feeling – like if you’re writing exams and studying hard and then go running – your mind just feels so clean. And it’s great to be able to do something together and something we’re all good at,” said Olivia.

“We’re not that competitive with each other. We just do it because we enjoy it but obviously if you win and do well, that feels great and it motivates you to train even harder to achieve even more,” added Alicia.

With the new season dawning the sisters, who compete in the colours of New Balance, have specific goals in mind: taking seconds off times for their various track events, and competing in as many Spar women’s races as possible. And when it gets to long-term aspirations, they also have a shared vision of competing in marathons: Diamond League meets and eventually possibly also the Olympic Games.

But the softly-spoken trio are not ones to blow their own trumpets when it comes to their obvious talent.

They’d rather let their results do the talking.

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THE LABUSCHAGNE SISTERS TO THE POWER OF THREE (Hoërskool Wonderboom)

Side bar:

Who’s who?

While to a stranger, the three young women are impossible to tell apart, as Alicia points out: “We have our own personalities – we’re not the same. But we usually want to do the same things. People can tell us apart because of our personalities though.”

“It’s not frustrating just being referred to as ‘the triplets’ and not as individuals. Maybe when we were younger but now we’re so used to it. We actually like it.”

So, how do the triplets describe each other: Sindy on Olivia: “Olivia is a very strong personality. She’s kind of like the leader and we always ask her stuff – like if it’s ok to do something and that kind of thing. So we look up to her. We follow her the most.”

Alicia on Sindy “Sindy is the most friendly. She’s a really loving person – she always tried to keep us together. She’ll always make us happy. If we’re ever angry or anything she’ll say something to get us back together.”

Sindy on Alicia: “She always helps us when we’re sad and that kind of thing. She really helps us and motivates us to look at whatever it is in a positive way.”

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SA ROWing SQUAD HITTING THE HIGHS FOR GOLD

HITTING THE HIGHS WITH THE ROWERS SA SQUAD ROWS FOR GOLD » Words and Photos by: Ockert de Villiers

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TEAM Profile FEATURE: ROWING

With more Olympic glory in mind the South African rowing team had a three-week long high-altitude training camp on the Katse Dam in Lesotho. The men’s lightweight fours’ gold medal victory at the 2012 London Olympic Games only served to increase national coach Roger Barrow’s appetite for more precious metal.

While the team have spent time in Bethlehem for high-altitude training on prior occasions, Barrow hoped the rowers would get an added edge by going on regular camps in the Mountain Kingdom.

“If one still has three years before the next Olympics it’s all good and well to try new things, but there’s no way I would institute drastic training changes if it were a year away,” Barrow

said at the Motebong Village in the Leribe region of Lesotho, 500 km from Pretoria.

The close-on-20 rowers had to endure up to 25 hours of training per week at an altitude of 2050 m above sea level.

Their training included 200 km of rowing, 40 km of running, a further eight hours of cycling and three gym sessions per week.

Barrow’s (hpc) team had to haul 29 boats to the training venue, in addition to a set of weight equipment and 20 rowing machines.

The rowing coach said the isolated venue also added to the benefits of the camp in Lesotho as the athletes did not have the distractions they would have at home and they could focus exclusively on their training.

“I want to make sure I’ve got my plan intact for my two year build-up to Rio, and I believe I know exactly what we are doing,” he continues.

“The reason for altitude training is to build up the amount of oxygen in the rowers’ blood and that is all the theory behind that.”

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SA ROWing SQUAD HITTING THE HIGHS FOR GOLD

“The positives lie in being here for three weeks with no one leaving, and in so doing, we can really achieve quality training with no disturbances.

We employed a chef that cooks extremely well, there are some good places for some cross training like mountain biking and running, as well as doing weightlifting. Our ergo room was well used.�

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TEAM Profile FEATURE: ROWING

Barrow said they would do tests in the New Year to see whether there had been physiological improvements. He felt that, while they should see the benefits in the short term, they would only be able to reap the real rewards after the team have been on a few of these camps.

“If you look at where we are in the mountains and how happy the athletes are, I am really satisfied with what we’ve accomplished so far.”

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SA ROWing SQUAD HITTING THE HIGHS FOR GOLD

“Even if it wasn’t for the benefit that the altitude has to offer our team, I still think the environment that we’ve created is going to give us massive kickbacks in the months to come.”

Barrow said while the retirement of Olympic gold medallist Matthew Brittain had been a massive setback, they were making contingent plans as they look towards the Rio Games in 2016.

A young Mike Voerman filled the void left by Brittain’s departure with the crew finishing eighth in the A-final at the World Rowing Championships in Chungju, South Korea in August and September.

However, Barrow said the lack of depth beyond the quartet could force them into seeking Olympic qualification of a lightweight men’s double sculls boat to contend for a medal in Rio. This would mean that four top rowers could be battling it out for two seats in this class.

“We’ve got to see how many quality athletes we have and the concern with the lightweight four is that there are only four with Mike, Sizwe (Ndlovu), Bean (John Smith) and James (Thompson). We’re lacking depth at this stage ...”

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Ts & Cs apply.

Dan Trinnic and Roarke Olver FORMIDABLE DUO PONDER THEIR FUTURE

FORMIDABLE DUO OLVER AND Trinnic PONDER THEIR FUTURE

» Words and Photos by: Karien Jonckheere

St John’s College’s star water polo players, Dan Trinnic and Roarke Olver, couldn’t have asked for a better farewell to their school days than victory at the Old Mutual Wealth National Schools Water Polo Tournament in East London last month.

The duo were part of the Central Gauteng team that defeated pre-tournament favourites Western Province, 3-2 in a thrilling final – and in so doing, earned a spot on the SA Schools team that went on to compete in the Tri-Nations Schools tournament in Australia.

But the future is looking rather uncertain for Trinnic and Olver, as they prepare for life after school water polo.

“Studies will come before water polo, especially in the South African context because there’s no money and no sense really in pursuing water polo as a career,” explained Trinnic whose father, Vlad played semi-professionally in the former Yugoslavia and is now coach of the St John’s first team.

“We’ll probably play club here for the OJ Eagles team and

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hopefully still be fit enough to try out for the SA Under-20s and even the national team after that but it’s very uncertain while we’re studying and finding jobs and stuff,” added the future chemical engineering student.

Despite being frustrated by the lack of funding and support, both players still have a deep love for the sport.

“I just have a great passion for it – the physical exertion involved - and I think the best thing about it is the results. When you train really hard and then get to a final or even win a tournament, it’s just so rewarding,” reckoned Olver, who captained the St John’s first team in 2013.

“It’s just been a part of my life for a really long time. I don’t even remember a time when I wasn’t doing it,” added Trinnic.

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: WATER POLO “But it’s really awesome because training for it is very difficult so it really keeps your body in peak condition. You feel so healthy, like you can do whatever you want.”

It’s this passion and commitment to training that saw both players selected for the SA Under-20 team that travelled to Hungary last year to compete in the World Championships.

“It was intimidating but it makes you feel really proud,” admitted Olver.

“It was so surreal. It was amazing, “ added Trinnic.

“It was great because up until then we’d only been playing players from South Africa which isn’t at the top level of international water polo so now having the chance to play against Serbians, even the Brazilians – it was really awesome to see the level where South Africa is compared to the others,” he said.

Olver added: “When you’re at home you think the level is pretty good but then when you get into the real world and play against international teams, it’s just on another level. They take it so seriously compared to what we do. It was quite a rude awakening actually seeing what level they are at, compared to where we are.

It was inspiring as well – I went home and said to my mom that I want to be better but we’re in the wrong country for that so I’m not really sure how to do it.”

SIDE BAR What does it take to be the best in water polo?

Dan Trinnic: “Physical input to the max is a very large part of the game. But also there will always be the small things like people kicking you when they swim off or inappropriate punches and that sort of thing underwater which you won’t see but that’s all part of the game and you have to overcome it. It doesn’t come down

to who is the strongest or most aggressive – it’s about who is the most skilful and explosive and fast and actually smart.

You need really good spatial awareness – being able to track a lot of movements at the same time.

And being able to see basically everything as you swim, knowing where the ball is at all times and being on the same level as your whole team.”

Roarke Olver: “I think you need to have a balance. You will play against opponents who will try and make you aggressive towards them but you have to initiate a sense of domination and show that you are the same strength as them and that sort of thing. But you need to keep it cool otherwise you lose it and it backfires on you.”

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MURRAY COMMINS TALENT OFF THE WALL & ON THE BALL

Murray Commins is the number one Under-16 squash player in South Africa. But squash isn’t the only sport this talented young man excels at.

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TALENT ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: SQUASH / CRICKET

OFF THE WALL & ON THE BALL Âť Words by: Kobus Pretorius

MURRAY COMMINS

Murray (16), a pupil from Rondebosch Boys High in the Southern Suburbs, is also a very competent cricket player, a talent he no doubt gets from his father John. Murray comes from a very talented sporting family who is especially wellknown in cricket circles in Cape Town.

His father is John Commins, a well-known Western Province cricket player who also played three tests for South Africa in 1993/94. John Commins was a middle-order batsman who scored 125 runs in six test innings with a highest score of 45.

But it’s his first-class career that is much more impressive. In his 94 first-class matches, John Commins scored 5835 runs at an average of 40.8 with a highest score of 200 not-out. In total he scored 13 hundreds and 34 fifties.

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MURRAY COMMINS TALENT OFF THE WALL & ON THE BALL

Murray’s grandfather and John’s father, Kevin Commins, also played first-class cricket for Border and Western Province in 29 matches between 1951 and 1961. Kevin’s brother, also John Commins, played 10 first-class games for Western Province between 1960 and 1969 and took 27 wickets at an average of 27.77.

From this it’s clear as to where Murray gets his cricketing talent. His talent for squash comes from his mother Kim’s side of the family.

Murray has to juggle being the number 1 player in the country in his age group while also representing the first cricket team.

Seeing as the squash season starts in February and ends in September, it overlaps with his cricket duties.

“I play squash most days in the season, two hours a day for about six days a week. I also go to gym and do some jogging to keep fit,” says Murray about his training schedule.

He started playing squash when he was just five years old and practically grew up next to the squash courts watching his family play. He won the national Under-16 for two years in a row now and he featured in the Western Province’s winning team of 2013.

Murray came third in the Under-17 Scottish Open last year and also won the Bloemfontein Open Under-16.

He is undefeated as the number one and also played in the men’s first league last year.

“I come from a family of squash players and it has always been a goal to be the number one player in my age group. I spend many hours watching the top players and I’ve always aspired to be like them.”

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Although Murray prefers cricket over squash (he wants to pursue it after school), he will never stop playing the game.

“Squash is a game you can play for the rest of your life and I will always play to keep fit.”

According to Murray, the toughest squash opponents he has faced so far are Luke Willemse (number one in SA Under-19) and Diego Elias who is the number one Under-17 player in the world.

“I’m not superstitious. I just do a stretch and a warm-up and I usually have a few nerves before a big match. I’m a shot player and I also retrieve pretty well because of my height and movement.

Although one’s fitness can always improve, I need to learn to be more patient when I’m playing.”

Although squash comes very naturally to him, Murray is very serious about his cricket career.

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: SQUASH / CRICKET

He admits that there has never been any pressure on him to perform well in cricket.

“There are no expectations from my dad. He supports me in whatever I want to do.”

And for now, Murray wants to do both.

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Bianca Haw THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER IS CYCLING UP A STORM!

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as o t ve d rre y ha e e f re ma t th to g in dad , bu ard e f b Her iking forw o ed ter. in b king r i is t augh unta loo . aw ’s d mo n is und H ca Glen r to pio aro n m Bia mer d he cha rned “He likes it when people say to me: ‘Oh, e l r u c a t you’re Farmer Glen’s daughter’,” she says Fa du ion et o g t r with a cheeky laugh. “But I can’t wait for int or na ings the day when someone sees him and says: i h t n ‘Oh, you’re Bianca Haw’s father.’ That day ju day hasn’t come yet, so I’m just waiting for the it to come and I’ll be the one doing the

a i B

laughing!”

Farmer Glen is in fact something of a legend in KwaZulu-Natal cycling circles – having founded the Sani2C Stage Race, among others. But his youngest daughter is fast making a name for herself, not only rising to top spot in the national junior ranks but also claiming a top 10 finish in last year’s UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, held in Pietermaritzburg.

And then there’s canoeing too. Having taken up the sport as a Grade 8 student at Epworth School in Pietermaritzburg, Haw rowed her way to three junior Dusi titles over the years.

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CYCLING / CANOEING

“My family has always done sport. My dad does canoeing and loves mountain biking so he taught us from when we were very young,” she explained.

“Ever since I was a little baby – I started with those little push scooters – I’ve always been on a bicycle. I only started competing in 2012 though. I had done the odd race before that but 2012 was when I started cross-country. I just went to one race and then I liked it so much that I carried on.”

Haw has yet to represent the country in canoeing and despite her local success does it more for fun in the summer months. But her chance to pull on a South African shirt for mountain biking came in 2013 – first at the African Championships and then the World Championships.

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Bianca Haw THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER IS CYCLING UP A STORM!

“It was very exciting. I didn’t expect to do so well because I went to Italy a few months before for a World Cup and I didn’t do too well there.

I finished 24th so it was quite a step up at World Championships. I had also just had glandular fever and was just recovering from that so it was really nice to achieve what I did.

Making the top 10 was really cool and everyone was there to watch so that was exhilarating. I was so happy.”

The talented rider, who turns 18 this month, has just finished matric at Epworth and will now make the move to join her sister and brother in Stellenbosch, where she plans to study towards a BCom.

“I’ll hopefully extend the degree so I can ride quite a lot and hopefully race overseas quite often,” she explained.

“Hopefully one day I will make the Olympics. We’ll have to see. I can’t say what I’ll become but that is my main dream – and to travel all over the world.

The World Cups are everywhere so you get to see the world and ride at the same time, so that’s what I’m really looking forward to.”

For now though, the focus is on the 2014 Dusi Canoe Marathon, to be held from 13 - 15 February, where she’ll be teaming up with her sister, Tamika, in a bid for the Senior K2 title. And then she’ll be back on her bike with the aim of qualifying for this August’s Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CYCLING / CANOEING

“For Youth Olympics only one girl gets to go and she has to do road and mountain biking as well so I’ve been on the road quite a lot now. The SA Road Championships are also coming up soon so it’s all very close.”

Asked what fuels this motivation to succeed, Haw pointed out: “It’s that feeling of achievement when you cross the line – that’s what I really like. Not to boast about your achievements or anything – I really don’t like that. But it’s really nice to make people proud of you. To make your coaches and your family feel that what they’ve done for you has worked.”

Farmer Glen will no doubt be immensely proud, even that day he is referred to as Bianca Haw’s father.

On Role Models and Advice...

I would have to say my role models are the late Burry Stander mainly, and also Greg Minnaar – such nice people and so down to earth, very humble – I really liked them.

I did know Burry – not super well but if we passed each other we’d say hello. He was really nice and whenever you saw him he’d always take the time to encourage and talk to you about stuff so he was really awesome.

My advice to others coming up in the sport is that they must just enjoy it because if they’re not having fun, what’s the point of doing it. They must push themselves, but they mustn’t get to the point where they’re not enjoying what they’re doing.

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ASHLEIGH MOOLMAN PASIO GEARING UP FOR VICTORY

» Words by: By Wesley Botton

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CYCLING

After completing another superb international season in 2013, Ashleigh Moolman Pasio hopes to continue her fine form this year as she leads the charge in the steady rise of African women’s cycling.

GEARING UP FOR VICTORY ASHLEIGH MOOLMAN PASIO

Moolman Pasio, the top-ranked women’s rider on the continent, kicked off her 2013 campaign with double gold in the road race and time trial at the SA Road Championships in Nelspruit in March. The following month she made history by becoming the first South African woman to step on the podium at a Road World Cup event when she finished third in the Fleche Wallonne Femmes one-day race in Belgium.

She went on to finish eighth in the prestigious Giro Rosa stage race in Italy in July, before returning home to win the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge for the second time in three years.

Moolman Pasio capped her season by defending both her African road and time trial crowns at the Continental Championships in Egypt in December.

“I was absolutely delighted to defend my Continental Championship jerseys, but the real win was seeing the growth of the African women’s peloton,” she said at the end of a long season.

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ASHLEIGH MOOLMAN PASIO GEARING UP FOR VICTORY

“The racing was exciting and aggressive and it sent a clear message that women’s racing is moving up on the continent. With so many financial constraints in African women’s cycling, I was truly surprised and excited to see so many women representing so many different countries.”

GEARING UP FOR VICTORY

While she was delighted with her performance as an individual, Moolman Pasio was even more pleased to pick up valuable UCI points, which will assist South Africa in sending larger teams to international competitions.

ASHLEIGH MOOLMAN PASIO

“The UCI points on offer at the continental champs are very significant and are of utmost importance not only to me as an individual, but to South Africa as a country as well,” Moolman Pasio explains.

“UCI points are important in determining rider and country rankings, which in turn determine the number of riders our country qualifies for big events like the World Championships, Olympics and Commonwealth Games. With the Commonwealth Games taking place in Glasgow this year, it was important for South Africa to maximise on the points on offer at the Continental Championships.”

Moolman Pasio was also encouraged by the overall performance of the SA team, who returned from Egypt with 16 medals.

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: CYCLING

“It was great to see the growth in our representation at an event of this nature, with a team of 18 riders both male and female being sent to Egypt,” she tells Game On. “It was also wonderful that a junior women’s category was added to the event and I’m particularly impressed by the performance of our juniors, both male and female.”

“The future of South African cycling lies in these individuals and it was wonderful to see the professionalism, great spirit and team work displayed by these talented young stars.”

After shining for the Lotto Belisol Ladies’ outfit overseas and Momentum Toyota on home soil, Moolman Pasio, who was named South Africa’s most influential woman in sport last year, will ride for the Hitec Products UCI women’s team this season.

“Momentum Toyota helped me start my cycling career five years ago locally in South Africa and abroad with Lotto Belisol,” she said on her website. “Since then we have both been committed to striving for big goals, no matter how out of reach they seemed. There have been many ups, a lot of downs, but with dedicated hard work there has always been momentum yielding positive growth.In the spirit of moving forward, I have decided to channel my hard work toward new goals with a new team. Onwards and upwards.”

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Lauren Pijper Astroturf HOCKEY & PASSION

Lauren Pijper Age: 18 Place: Pretoria Sport: Hockey

“When I am on a hockey Astroturf and my legs ache so much that I can hardly move, that’s when I am utterly relaxed.”

ATHLETE This remark by Lauren Pijper, who captained the first hockey team of Pretoria High School for Girls last year, may at first sound like a contradiction, but it is not.

Pijper, who is truly passionate about hockey, meant every word she said. Anyone who is willing to play hockey for five different teams in one season must be passionate about the game.

A

part from captaining the school’s first team, she also captained the Northerns Under-18 team at last year’s provincial tournament. As if this was not enough, she occasionally played for the Tuks 2nd and 1st teams and was selected for the SA Schools XI as well.

Pijper has no plans for slowing down on the Astroturf. Her goal this season is to play for the Tuks 1st team and it will certainly not be a surprise if she is also selected to represent Northerns at the senior interprovincial tournament.

Pijper cannot remember exactly how old she was when she held a hockey stick in her hands for the first time.

“I was introduced to hockey when my dad coached at my sister’s primary school. I was next to the field and wanted to join in the fun.

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My dad bought me the smallest hockey stick he could find, but he still had to shorten it to give me a proper grip. You can actually say that my hockey career started when I played with my dad in our back garden.”

Pijper’s sporting talents are not restricted only to chasing a ball with a stick. She used to be a good swimmer and also did gymnastics. Squash was the other sport in which she really excelled. She played squash at provincial level until she was 15.

“Because it became an almost impossible juggling act to find a balance between sports, studies and family time, I was faced with the very difficult choice between playing hockey or squash. After giving it some thought I realized that my heart was in hockey. When I am out on the Astroturf, there is never a single minute that I don’t want to be there.”

“I still enjoy playing squash, but I will never have the same passion for it that I have for hockey.”

Pijper plays midfield – centre link, left link or right link – which means that she is constantly in the centre of all the action.

“What I enjoy about playing as a midfielder is that it gives me the opportunity to try to outmanoeuvre the opposition. I just love it. One of my strong points is that I am able to read the game and I am therefore able to create goal scoring opportunities for my team.”

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: HOCKEY “The secret of playing good hockey is to have confidence. When you step out onto the field to play, you need to believe that you are capable of doing exactly that which you have been practicing for hours.”

having missed out in 2012, it was something I have worked towards during the whole of last season and to finally hear my name being read out was an amazing feeling.”

Astroturf HOCKEY & PASSION

Pijper does not hesitate to say that having been selected for the SA Schools Under-18 team was the highlight of the past season.

“After

“In all my years of playing against St Stithians the teams I played for always lost. Last year, when we played against them on our Astroturf, everything just seemed to fall into place. We played the near perfect game, which was amazing considering that we were quite a young and inexperienced team.

Beating Hoërskool Waterkloof was also special.”

When asked about her most memorable match of 2013, Pijper said that captaining the 1st team of Girls’ High to a victory against St Stithians was really special.

What was the most special goal you scored?

“It must be playing for Northerns against WP. It was a must-win game for us. With only five seconds of game time remaining and with the score still tied, we managed to force a short corner. The ball was flicked to me as the final whistle went.

There was no time to think. I just put my head down and hit the ball. It went straight through to the back of the net. It was a ‘wow’ moment. Our coach and all my teammates stormed onto the field to celebrate.”

As the saying goes, watch this space!

Who knows, in a year or two from now Pijper might be scoring the winning goal for South Africa at just such a crucial moment.

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JD le Grange Don’t mess with a judoka

» Words by: Wilhelm de Swardt; Photos by: Reg Caldecott

Don’t mess with a

judoka There’s a bully in Potchefstroom who knows from his own experience that you might just end up bleeding.

JD le Grange (21), one of the up and coming judokas at the Pretoria High Perfomance Centre (hpc), tells the story of how he was bullied at school when he was ten years old.

best. I managed to break his nose. My dad’s only response when he was confronted by the school principal about my aggressive behaviour was that it seemed to him that the judo lessons were working,” Le Grange

“I think it mainly happened because I was one of the smallest kids in primary school.

said.

My dad, Daan, who used to be an avid judoka, suggested that I also take up the sport. I did and it changed my whole life. After only two weeks of training I was again involved in an altercation with the bully, but this time he came off second

“I am not naturally an aggressive person, but I know how to defend myself if the need should arise.”

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Le Grange makes it clear that he never deliberately starts a fight outside the judo halls.

Le Grange and Zack Pionteck (also from the hpc) made local judo history at the end of last year when they became the first South Africans to win gold medals at an African Continental Championship. The event took place in Mauritius.

Another highlight for Le Grange was winning his 7th South African title. Unfortunately this victory of his was accompanied by great sadness.

“My dad died the following day. In one of the last conversations I ever had with him we discussed the fact that by winning my 7th title I had improved his record by one. My dad had won six SA titles. His words to me were that any son should strive to be better than his dad.”

ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: JUDO

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JD le Grange Don’t mess with a judoka

Le Grange, who matriculated at the Potchefstroom Gimnasium, used to be quite a talented rugby player. His ‘Rubicon’ moment in sports occurred when he was 16 and the coach asked him to make up his mind about whether he was serious about playing rugby.

“I realised at the time that I was never going to play for the Springboks because I am too small. I made peace with it and decided to rather focus on judo in which I knew I had a good chance to represent my country. It was a good decision because I have already had my opportunity.”

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: JUDO

Le Grange credits his first international title to the four-week training camp he attended in Japan before the championships.

“Judo training in Japan is a totally different kettle of fish from what we have in South Africa, especially if you are a foreigner. On the first night that Zack and I attended a training session, we could hear the Japan judoka talking among themselves about the foreigners who were invading their space.

They did not seem to take too kindly to us.

In one training session you sometimes have to ‘fight’ between six and eight opponents, of whom some could be top ranked international athletes. Each ‘fight’ is war on its own. One of the hardest days for me was when I had to ‘fight’ 12 judokas. It boiled down to 68 minutes of constant battling, taking on one opponent after another. It was gruelling, but you don’t get any better training than that. When the Japan judokas realised that we were serious about the sport, they started to accept us.

Coming back to South Africa after such a gruelling training camp made competing at the African Continental Championships a breeze.”

Le Grange fully realises that, if he wants to have a realistic chance to represent South Africa at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, he needs to get regular opportunities to train internationally.

“The only way I can improve is to train consistently against better opponents. I would love to go back to Japan this year.

Another option would be to go to Holland where I trained a few years ago. The Hollanders are very friendly people and they go out their way to make you feel at home. Their coaches are very good and able to help you to master the different techniques.”

To relax Le Grange enjoys reading. He also enjoys having a braai with his friends, but this does not happen very often. Being a competitive judoka can be lonesome at times.

“The last time I was at a braai with my friends, I told them that this was it. I won’t be able to see them for at least the next six weeks because I have some serious training to do.”

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Henri Schoeman Amongst the best triathletes in the world

Amongst the best

SOUTH AFRICAN

triathletes

in the world

Not many local sports fans realise that South Africa has some of the best triathletes in the world.

If the names Richard Murray or Henri Schoeman should be mentioned in a conversation about sports, the immediate response would almost certainly be: “Who are they?�

This is sad because they were two of the top competitors at international triathlon events last year. Murray finished 5th overall in the ITU World Series and is currently ranked 4th on the ITU Points List, while Schoeman finished 14th in the World Series and is ranked 16th on the ITU Points List.

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: TRIATHLON

Henri

Schoeman PROFESSIONAL TRIATHLETE

★ ENDURANCE

★ DISCIPLINE

★ STRENGTH

There are not many sports in South Africa that can boast with two athletes among the top 20 in the world. This certainly bodes well for the Commonwealth Games in Scotland.

The meteoric rise of the 22-year-old Schoeman in international triathlon events during 2013 was a definite highlight.

Recurring shin and knee injuries kept him from performing at his best during most of 2012, but Schoeman showed that he was never going to be a quitter. Once his injuries were under control, there was no way of stopping him.

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Henri Schoeman Amongst the best triathletes in the world

The first indication that Schoeman has what it takes to become one of the world’s best triathletes was when he finished 4th in the Kitzbuehel World Series event.

The Kitzbuehel event (750 m swim, 11.5 km bike ride and a 2.5 km run) is considered to be one of the toughest in the world, because the athletes are expected to first cycle up a mountain with a gradient of 15% and then run a further 2 km to get to the top.

Olympic champion, Alistair Brownlee, won in 55min 23sec, with Spain’s Mario Mola 2nd in 56min 00sec and Switzerland’s Sven Riderer, 56min 46sec, filling the podium. Schoeman crossed the line merely three seconds later in a time of 56min 49sec.

“There are no suitable words for me to describe what it felt like to finish fourth.

It was by far the hardest triathlon I’ve ever done but also the most enjoyable. I loved every moment of it,” Schoeman said.

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ATHLETE Profile FEATURE: TRIATHLON

PUTTING SOUTH AFRICA ON THE TRIATHLON MAP

“I am grateful for the opportunity to travel the world, doing what I love best, and meeting many great people along the way,” he

Another great result was when he finished 6th in the World Series event in Yokohoma. He won the 5150 African Championships, as well as the African Championships in Morocco and is the current South African Under-23 champion.

Schoeman summarized his season as follows:

“To finish 14th overall in my World Series debut is exciting.

Everything that I have learned and experienced will help to make a better athlete of me. I have identified certain aspects on which I will have to work hard to improve and I am confident that I will be able to do even better this season,”

concludes.

It is interesting to note that Schoeman’s brother, Riaan, represented South Africa in the men’s 400 m individual medley at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Schoeman also started out as a swimmer, but at the age of 17 he realised that his times were not improving any further. That was when he decided to switch to triathlon events.

It should be no surprise that Schoeman has great admiration for Spain’s Javier Gomez, the current world champion, whom he considers to be his role model.

Sebastian Coe, winner of four medals in middle distance running at the Olympic Games and chairman of the British Olympic Association for the 2012 Games, is another role model of his.

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Henri Schoeman Amongst the best triathletes in the world SIDE BAR

Schoeman’s favourites Pre-race meal: Muesli with honey and milk

Post-race meal: Burger/pizza/pasta

Energy drink: Cytomax

ITU WORLD TRIATHLON SERIES 2014

Recovery drink: SIDE BAR

Monster Amino/ Muscle Milk (Cytomax)

Last year an addition to the 2014 World Triathlon Series calendar was announced by the International Triathlon Union. For the first time ever, a World Triathlon Series event will be held on the continent of Africa with a race slated to be held at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa on April 26-27, 2014.

Favourite food: Pizza

Favourite treat: Chocolate brownies

Sponsors:

The World Triathlon Cape Town race will serve as the second stop on the eight-city tour, which kicks off in Auckland on April 5-6. Cape Town is one of only two cities to debut on the WTS calendar in 2014. Chicago will also host an event for the first time.

FINIS, HUUB Design Wetsuits, Puma, Cytomax and Classic Eyes Gateway.

“We have been working to secure a WTS event in Africa for a long time,”

ITU President and IOC Member, Marisol Casado, said.

“We are very excited to bring our fastpaced, action-packed style of racing there. The location is an ideal spot for premium racing, and will also serve as an important development tool for all of Africa.” According to Schoeman it will give South African sports

fans an opportunity to get an idea of what international triathlon events are all about.

“I don’t think people realise how much excitement and drama there are at a World Series event. It is certainly not going to be an easy race. I expect that there will be quite a few tough little climbs on the cycle as well as the running routes.”

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GRANT JOHNSON’S OFF THE BALL

Off the Ball With Grant Johnson & Shaun Dafel

Welcome to the third issue of our monthly soccer forum, where we will be discussing current soccer developments, whether they are good initiatives or problems in the game. I am Grant Johnson and I have 20 years of experience in South African soccer.

Player and Coach with Club & Country

So much has happened since my

We have a tournament coming up now Chad 2014

last column.

which is to be hosted in South Africa. There have been

Bafana Bafana beat World Champions

Spain

at FNB Stadium. Yes, there was controversy about the substitutes, but let it not detract from the fact that Bafana played well and were deserved winners on the night.

I agreed with Gordon Igesund that

ongoing negotiations between the PSL clubs and SAFA about the releasing of players for the tournament.

An agreement seems to have been reached for now, but I believe that is not the end of the problem. The agreement is for this current tournament, but what does the future hold?

the substitute should not be allowed.

It seems the PSL has more power than

The result of that game was critical

SAFA, and can decide who and when

for FIFA rankings, and the draw for

to release for what game. This is not

each tournament is done according to

a healthy situation for our National

the rankings.

team and will end up in disaster at

Anyway, it was an amazing night for South African football. We now need to build on that, but there are already problems within the football circles.

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some stage. The only games they have no control over is for the FIFA calendar games.

REGULAR: SOCCER

The coach needs to have the strongest available squad at any time. Until this happens,

Kaizer Chiefs are heading the

January is also an interesting

standings and looking good

month for transfers. The window

to claim the title, but that will not

is open for players to move

be easy, with Sundowns, Wits,

clubs and it will be interesting

Pirates and a few other clubs

which teams will strengthen

hoping to spoil their party.

their squads.

our National team will not progress and not

My prediction is the

climb the very important

league will be won by

World rankings.

Chiefs or Sundowns. I

The PSL has seen its customary

personally hope that

Christmas break, and I’m sure

Pirates or Supersport

the players will be well rested. It’s now back to the hard work and

can pick up points and

getting back to the importance of

create a challenge.

the Premier league.

The teams at the bottom of the league will need to sign quality players urgently, and the teams at the top will try desperately to hold onto their current crop of players.

News is that Supersport have already made a few new signings. Let’s wait and see…

Yours in football.

GRANT

& Shaun Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

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Arnaud Malherbe WHEN DID ATHLETICS STOP BEING ABOUT ATHLETICS?

WHEN DID

ATHLETICS

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REGULAR: ATHLETICS

I can’t remember the last time I had a discussion about athletics that was actually about athletics.

STOP BEING ABOUT

ATHLETICS? and skip the initial period in 2011, when everything seemed to be going well, even though these periods have contributed to where we are today and anyone wishing to understand the full story should investigate this.

I will also stick to known facts, rather than my own speculation.

It was during the ASA elections in 2012 where the problems began. Suddenly, political factions started forming, as people lobbied for a place on the ASA board. James Evans was still favourite for President, but he was opposed by Harold Adams, President of Boland Athletics. Adams also contested the Vice President position, along with Hendrick Ramaala and Geraldine Pillay.

More often than not, these days the questions I receive are more along the lines of “What’s going on at Athletics South Africa (ASA)?” and “Is James Evans really such a bad guy?”

So, let’s attempt to answer some of these questions.

Firstly, for those who don’t know, James Evans is the current (some would say “embattled”, others would say “former”) President of ASA. He has been in this position since the end of 2010, although only properly elected to the President’s position for a four year term in 2012.

To explain the whole story, one would need to look at the history of ASA since the removal of Leonard Chuene as ASA President in 2009. For the sake of brevity, I will gloss over the year of SASCOC administration in 2010,

Evans triumphed on the day, causing Adams to also withdraw his candidacy for Vice-President. That position eventually went to Ramaala. Other notable board members elected were Pieter Lourens, VicePresident of Boland Athletics and aligned to Adams, Esther Malema, Shireen Noble, James Moloi and Gwadiso Nthatu.

Ironically, it was these same six that collectively tried to impeach Evans less than a year later, with the assistance of SASCOC, thinking this would remove him.

Ramaala was quoted as saying under oath that he did not understand what “impeachment” meant, but that “Mr Mubarak from SASCOC said it would mean Evans is suspended”.

For the record, the Oxford dictionary defines “impeachment” as “call into question the integrity or validity of (a practice); charge (the holder of a public office) with misconduct”. So it is not a removal at all, just a charge.

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Arnaud Malherbe WHEN DID ATHLETICS STOP BEING ABOUT ATHLETICS? Many charges have been laid against Evans, but these have not been substantiated by proof. For instance, it has been said that he does not consult with his board, but this has proven to be untrue on many occasions. To date, no allegations levelled against him have held up.

So, why the “coup d’état” less than a year after Evans won a democratic election? It may be for many reasons, such as personal dislike, or maybe some factions just didn’t like the election result.

Be that as it may, ASA was again placed under administration by SASCOC in April 2013, this time only for a few months, before the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) stepped in; saying it still recognised Evans and his elected board and not the SASCOC administrator. This caused SASCOC to withdraw, and to suspend ASA from SASCOC membership.

Recent events saw another attempt to remove Evans from power. The previous instigator, Ramaala, switched sides after “feeling used” by SASCOC and joined Evans against the other five board members. Once again, the ASA constitution and the Companies Act have been ignored in setting up the “interim board” and correct procedures were not followed. Thus Evans still claims to be President of ASA - and legally, he is correct, despite what you may have read in recent media reports.

So, with two “boards”, the elected one and the “interim” one, both claiming to be in charge of ASA - where does this leave ASA and the athletes?

The IAAF constitution is very clear in that it does not recognise “interim bodies”, unless athletics in the country has come to a standstill and prior approval is sought from the IAAF. This is not the case for SA and it is clear from their communications that the IAAF still recognises Evans and his elected board (or what remains of it, as the five members mentioned above have resigned, along with Andre Gobey and Blanche Moila) as being in charge of ASA. Therefore, if the “interim board” continues to claim to be running the federation, the IAAF will have no choice but to suspend ASA from its membership.

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This has far-reaching consequences, greater than most people realise, and could include the following: ⨠⨠ no participation by any South African athlete in any international event (and this includes the average South African who may want to run an international marathon), ⨠⨠ cancellation of bursaries of South African athletes studying at offshore institutions, and ⨠⨠ no participation by international athletes in South Africa (this would include Comrades and Two Oceans).

There is far more to this than I can possibly put in one article, but I urge you, as the reader, to come to your own conclusions and perhaps seek the answers to these questions:

1

What has James Evans done wrong, other than perhaps not being the most likeable guy around?

2

Why the continuous attempts to remove him, after he won a democratic election?

3

Why can’t the people trying to remove him, follow simple procedures as laid out in the ASA Constitution and Companies Act?

4

What role, if any, does SASCOC play in all of this?

5

What motivated the five board members to continue in this quest, especially when their erstwhile leader, Hendrick Ramaala, decided not to?

5

Why did Ramaala reconcile with Evans?

6

Most importantly, what would be the right course of action for the benefit of the athletes?

REGULAR: ATHLETICS

The Oxford dictionary defines “impeachment” as “call into question the integrity or validity of (a practice); charge (the holder of a public office) with misconduct”.

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137

ARE

Andre Watson Are Referees Held Accountable

referees

HELD ACCOUNTABLE There are two distinct schools of thought when it come to the matter of referees.

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One school says: appreciate what they are doing and live with what you get.

Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

2

The other school says: shoot them.

REGULAR: REFEREES

Which ponders the question whether the man in the middle is held accountable for his performance or not.

The answer‌ Let’s dissect the reality at the highest level. There are many examples of referees that have been taken off appointments following indifferent performances, some even removed from refereeing at that level.

The demand is so high in modern day rugby that there is no place to hide for the referee or for the people in charge of them.

The reality is that every referee is watched and his performance analysed to the finest detail.

In short it means that every decision and every incorrect decision is scrutinised and marked as correct or incorrect. In addition, the referees department has a system whereby every incident is clipped.

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Andre Watson Are Referees Held Accountable

This means it is available as a video clip.

We will elaborate on this in a future article as it is too much to mention here.

Whatever the outcome of the refereeing performance, this info and grading is given to the referee.

The referee is warned (yellow flagged) that the performance was not satisfactory and he will then be informed what to do in order to improve.

the referee is then reviewed at a lower level and should he perform to the required level he is allowed back to referee at the higher level.

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Should it be satisfactory or better:

If

then fine! not,

Should he be flagged a second time,

he is removed of the next appointment and remedial action is taken.

Should he not,

he is removed from the panel.

Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

After the remedial action has been implemented

REGULAR: REFEREES

Referees actually review their own games and are robustly honest and transparent in their reviews.

The above system is based on the premise that talent and ability is long lasting whilst form may be temporary. Referees are taken to task and they lose out on appointments and even lose their positions on panels. This has a direct impact not only on their ego’s but definitely in their back pockets as well.

Referees are not removed after one bad game, but after they have lost form, there is a difference.

Are referees held accountable,

hell, yes!

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MARC MUNDELL LESSONS FROM MADIBA

COLUMN: WALKING THE PATH LESS TRAVELLED

LESSONS FROM MADIBA

SERIES TITLE: DREAM BELIEVE ACHIEVE REPEAT ARTICLE REFERENCE: LESSONS FROM MADIBA AUTHOR: MARC MUNDELL

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.” Nelson Mandela With the focus of the world on the passing of the great South African icon Nelson Mandela at the time of writing, I felt it fitting to look at lessons we could appropriate from his life and career.

Sport has been the centre of my life and the pursuit of international performance has inspired me throughout my career. From my early days as a primary school athlete, I dreamt of competing at the Olympic Games, after watching Elana Meyer winning her silver

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medal in the women’s 10 000 m at the 1992 Olympics Games in Barcelona. It was South Africa’s first post-apartheid participation since the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

In my opinion, so much of the country’s post-apartheid sporting success is as a direct result of Mandela’s passion to unite South Africans through sport, captured in the quotation above.

Nelson Mandela prescribed guidelines for living and contributing to society. In his 2002 address he said:

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that determines the significance of the life we lead”.

REGULAR: ATHLETICS This phrase epitomises for me, what a good life should be. The difference that we can all make, and the effect that we can have in the lives of others. The formulation of trusts or foundations which can provide bursaries and/or scholarships provides wondrous opportunities and incentives for deserving learners. Making use of success or fame generated in and through sport to provide an opportunity for those less privileged or to nurture the next generation, is a noble pursuit.

To get back up and to try again is reflected in the ability to set goals and to constantly evaluate and reassess the purpose of attaining those goals. Nelson Mandela suggests of pursuing goals

In sport as in life, setbacks most often cross an athlete’s path at the least opportune times. The athletes resolve and state of mind is called into question and their desire to overcome the obstacles hindering training or competition is confronted head-on. Nelson Mandela said of overcoming obstacles,

“I achieved my goal, my dream”.

“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again”.

So many athletes, when confronted with setbacks, back down, throw in the towel and say that life isn’t fair. They give up on the cusp of success, at the final hurdle. Heed the words to get back up off the floor and try again, and again, and again until you finally succeed.

“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”

Too often, we set ‘out there’ goals for ourselves, and then, if by fortune we achieve them, we rest on our laurels and say

Therein lies the problem that our dreams possibly weren’t so scary or distant or challenging after all.

They were merely dreams that we could fathom, and realistically believed that we were capable of achieving in the best conditions on the specific day of judgement.

Never fail to re-evaluate your dreams whilst pushing your own limits.

My challenge this month is to follow the advice of former President Nelson Mandela,

“It always seems impossible until it is done” Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

143

Lynette Burger Pumped Up Kicks

Pumped Up Kicks Cycling with Lynette Burger

Everything in life has its highs and its lows, whether it’s your job, your hobby, the type of sport you do or even your personal life.

Photo by Cycle Direct

I have experienced all of the above in so many different ways … the life of a professional cyclist wasn’t always easy; having said that, I have never regretted going into such a great sport and giving up so much of my personal life.

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I started cycling in 2002 as a hobby purely for the fun of it, setting out on a mountain bike in a small road race just outside Randfontein. I got my first podium position, and from that moment I just knew that it was something I wanted to do for as long as I could, and not just on a social level either.

I had always been involved in sport so this was something I knew I was talented in, and even though I started cycling at a later age than most riders out there (at the age of 21) I was keen on a new challenge.

REGULAR: Cycling

Eventually I made the team in 2006 and a twomonth stint in Europe was on the cards. We did many tours and one-day classics but with that also came a lot of blood, sweat and tears.

I started training hard, not really knowing what I was doing but following advice from whomever was available. I started racing every weekend; at first my goal was just to keep up with the Elite Ladies for as long as I could, then it was to try and stay with them all the way to the finish line and later it became a challenge to start following the attacks and even go into breakaways and sprints at the finish. From there I managed to get a couple of podium spots and it just made me hungry for more.

A team called Liberty Life saw some potential and before I knew it I signed my first contract in 2004.

Management let us down; sometimes we didn’t even have a place to sleep at night, travelling through the night to get to the next tour (hopefully on time) and sometimes no meals for hours even after doing a race like a World Cup. But the question was always given to the riders: why are you not getting results, what’s going on?

To go overseas for the first time opened my eyes to what I really wanted out of the sport but with the wrong management these great opportunities were squandered.

My cycling was now at a totally different level and with loads of help from the team and team management I started winning races. My next goal was to try and get onto the South African team to represent our country on an international level. Trust me this was not easy. We had loads of training camps in hilly areas such as Graskop to qualify for this opportunity.

We were usually a group of 12 riders, out of which only six get chosen.

I really had to fight hard as did any other rider to get onto the squad but unfortunately as with so many other sports out there, it was sometimes more who you know than what you can do.

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Lynette Burger Pumped Up Kicks

I think as an athlete wanting so much out of the sport and reaching personal goals it makes you realise how to become tough and fight for what you know is right but with the wrong management and people in place things were always just so much harder than what it should be. I think a lot of athletes will agree with me that it’s already so difficult to get to a competitive level; train, eat, sleep. Why should our federation or management make it impossible sometimes?

There are lots of questions asked about why athletes don’t perform the way they could or should when they participate on an international level but for once the question should be raised on why management teams with no skills, knowledge or passion for the sport get chosen and go on these international trips.

I’m not saying that there was no good in it but 80% of my trips representing South Africa were mismanaged.

Woman cyclists in South Africa could have achieved far more in a shorter time if we had the correct infrastructure.

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REGULAR: Cycling

In the next edition I will be sharing more information on South African Women’s cycling, the good and the bad.

Stay tuned!

International Titles

National Titles

2013 UCI World Road Race

South African Track Persuit Champion 2013

Champion Woman 30-34 2013 UCI World Time Trial Champion Woman 30-34

South African Veteran Road Race Champion 2012 South African Veteran Time Trial Champion 2012 South African Track Champ 2011 (Points race) South African Track Champ 2011 (Persuit) South African Road Champion (2009)

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147

Scott Mercier HIGH FLYERS: THE PRESSURE TO DOPE

HIGH FLYERS: THE PRESSURE TO DOPE Since the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) report detailing the widespread doping on the US Postal Services (USPS) Cycling Team and Lance Armstrong’s subsequent confession to Oprah Winfrey, there has been a lot of discussion regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) and the ‘pressure to dope’.

Lance Armstrong recently mentioned in an interview that I was one of three cyclists that he knows of who resisted the pressure to use PEDs. In 1997, after one season racing with USPS, and an offer from the team to continue for 1998, I made a decision that would forever change my life; I walked away from the sport.

Our actions have consequences, and I think it’s important to accept these consequences with dignity and grace. The price I paid for my decision was steep. My decision to leave the sport meant that I would never know what I might have been able to achieve on the bike.

In 1994 I placed 17th in the World Championship TT with nothing more than ‘bread and water’ and in 1996 I won a tightly-contested Rapport Tour against a peloton stacked with talented riders like Voight, Rich, Kivilev, Ivanov, Vinokourov and South Africans Andrew McLean, Malcom Lange and Gary Beneke. My teammates and roommates, Tyler Hamilton and George Hincapie went on to win an Olympic Gold Medal, stages of the Tour and Giro and classics.

I missed the fun of riding onto the Champs-Élysées as a member of the most successful team in the history of sport.

“I made a decision that would forever change my life”

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» Words by: Scott Mercier

REGULAR: Cycling

The following season, at my first European race in Milan - San Remo, I could barely hold the wheels and spent most of the day in the gutter.

The morning of the race I received an early morning wake-up call from the doping authorities for a blood test to check my hematocrit level. I tested at a 39.5 or 40 and the limit was 50 at that time. I was never selected for ‘random’ doping controls again.

For me, the ‘pressure to dope’ did not come from the team or other riders on the team. Doping products were made available and it was part of being a professional in the peloton at the time. It was certainly against the rules, but nearly everyone was doing it. If you wanted to compete in the European peloton, PEDs were a

necessary evil. I do not think that riders who just ‘did what they had to do to stay in the peloton’ have any more moral high ground than those who went all in. In fact, I think they are either lying or are just plain stupid. Cheating is cheating.

I also understand why riders made the decision to cross the line; they wanted to be professional cyclists.

I also wanted to be a professional cyclist; it was my dream job and I loved it. I was still in the early stages of my career. My first full season of racing was 1991 and by 1992 I had won a spot on the US Olympic team. However, I knew that if I continued racing in the European peloton for the 1998 season that I was going to be a doper. I was tired of my peers beating my head into the gutter. For years I would watch

the Tour and get depressed and angry; I was happy for the success of my friends and teammates, but angry at myself for the decision I had made.

People often tell me that I got ‘screwed’ and was robbed of my career. I may have been let down by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the enforcement system.

But I made my own decision; I don’t feel that I was robbed of anything.

Rather, I have gained respect, kept my dignity and stuck with my principles.

As teammate after teammate confessed or was popped with a positive test, my wife called me on my way home from work one day and said to me, “Aren’t you glad you aren’t sitting down with our son and daughter explaining to them how their daddy lied and cheated to get what he wanted? That’s not a conversation you have to have,” and that, to me, is worth more than anything fame or fortune can buy.

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ANDRIES VAN DER MERWE RUNNING LINES

ATHLETE

DIARY & JOURNAL

ANDRIES VAN DER MERWE

RUNNING LINES Two months of shoulder-rubbing with the big boys in Arizona has finally come to an end. It was a life-changing experience.

Although it was a lonely trip, I was still sad when I had to pack my bags. I however looked forward to heading back home for a four-week break before starting at Texas A & M University early in January.

The unbelievable training schedule of 13 sessions per week for eight weeks without a break, was proof that hard work is the only way to the top. The new approaches from some of the world’s best coaches, teaching me new techniques and exercises made me wish I had the opportunity to train in the States earlier in my athletics career.

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Working with the best in the world, at a top class facility like the World Athletics Centre taught me one more thing: talent is never enough! You need the correct mindset and attitude to make it to the top, obviously something only a privileged few sportsmen have.

INTERNATIONAL SPORTING JOURNAL: ATHLETICS

My weekly routine at WAC was gruelling, with two training sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and three training sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Our hardest sessions were undoubtedly the Saturday ‘Beast’ as coach Andreas called it. That session truly deserved its nickname!

We also did weekly evaluations where we were tested in different aspects of sprinting and weightlifting. It gave me tremendous confidence when the results showed that the gap between myself and the older hurdlers was surprisingly small.

Luckily it wasn’t all just training. I had the opportunity to visit the Grand Canyon one weekend which was one of the most amazing places I’ve ever seen. I also did a few other trips around Arizona which gave me the chance to mingle with the local people and to see more of the country that would be my home for the next five years.

It is a lonely world to be a foreign athlete in a country where great sportsmen are found in every big city. The amount of athletic talent is unbelievable. Looking at how the US supports its athletes and those who are willing to work hard, I realised that to achieve the goals I set myself, I will simply have to continue to work harder than my competition.

A special word of thanks to everybody at the World Athletics Centre, Andreas, Dustin, Nick, Aries and Dan. I hope you have many more great successes. It was a privilege to work with you and to have had the opportunity as a youngster, to prepare for the 2014 season with the World Athletic Centre and its people.

I hope to meet you on the track again soon!

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AMERICAN FOOTBALL? Gerhard De Beer AMERICAN FOOTBALL? OR SIMPLY FOOTBALL

OR SIMPLY FOOTBALL We all want to be a hero in some kind of way. We all have someone we look up to ... someone we idolise and whom we strive to be like. In this diary piece I’d like to give my parents the acknowledgement they deserve.

Defence

Offense

ATHLETE

DIARY & JOURNAL

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INTERNATIONAL SPORTING JOURNAL: AMERICAN FOOTBALL

There is a saying along the lines of you’re not able to choose your parents. Quite honestly, if I could have chosen mine, I would have chosen no one else. For all the days that I had my teenage fits, for all the days I had my low times in sport, and for all the days I had my worst times, their unconditional love for me has proven to be exactly what I’ve needed.

I had stages where I miss the home so much where I really wanted to go home. Stages where I thought that this might not all be worth it and maybe I’m better off in South Africa. But then I would be proving all the critics wrong and I would be the example of a failure. I will never willingly be the example of a failure!

We locked in a bowl game that we will be playing in Shreveport, Louisiana, and are going up against Boston College. We got to pick out some gifts from the bowl that are sponsored by the bowl host.

There were really cool things, but still there was only one goal in our team’s collective mind: winning!

I fly home right after the bowl game. I will be back in South Africa from the night of the 2nd of January and fly back to USA on the 13th of January. All in all this has been one of the best experiences of my life.

I really look forward to what the future has to offer and the endless possibilities awaiting me.

END ZONE

-20

-30

-40

QUARTER BACK

TACKLE

Tight end

A lot has changed for me in the last two months. I moved positions from tight end (where I ran routes and blocked people) to offensive tackle (where I only block people). This is really fun and I love playing it. There are five offensive lineman positions (left and right tackle, left and right guard and the centre who snaps the ball). I had to block defensive ends and defensive tackles from getting to the quarterback. That’s called pass blocking. I also run block, which means every guy on the offensive line has a designated person to block for the receivers or running back or quarterback.

I have had the most fun playing football as an o-line man (as the Americans would call it) than playing any other position (mostly because I know what I’m doing now). Cory Zirbel has been teaching me the various defensive structures and different fronts as an introduction to learning about this position. Things have been going well for me and I am really extremely blessed by our Father.

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Ilze Hattingh’s globetrotting adventures

Ilze Another fascinating peek into Tennis Ace

Hattingh’s globetrotting adventures!

MATCHPOINT FOUNDATION

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INTERNATIONAL SPORTING JOURNAL: TENNIS ATHLETE

DIARY & JOURNAL

My Egypt trip – what an experience! Very tough , but worth it! My main goal on this trip was to try and get onto the WTA world ranking list. I had to remind myself that this is no longer juniors , this is senior tennis, against pro’s.

In a way I preferred it, as I knew that I had nothing to lose. (But of course I wanted to do well at the same time!)

Sharm El Sheikh – Jolly Ville Resort , what a beautiful place , not what I expected! I was surprised at how many holiday makers visited this type of resort. There are many similar ones in Sharm El Sheikh.

I had four tournaments to work through and I was satisfied that I was well prepared, physically and mentally.

My mental coach, Gielie Hoffmann, accompanied me for the first two tournaments , and we left on the 6th of November. What a surprise when we discovered that we were on the same flight as the Pirates soccer team ... vuvuzelas , singing and cheering fans greeted us!

I thought to myself how great it must be for a tennis player like me, to be welcomed like this one day after winning the Australian Open or Wimbledon!

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Ilze Hattingh’s globetrotting adventures

Upon arriving in Egypt , I put in a few good training sessions and of course had an invigorating swim in the Red Sea. I had to qualify to get into the main draw of all the tournament because I didn’t have a WTA ranking. In my first tournament I won my qualifying match to get into the main draw. You can imagine how excited I was!

I won my first round match in the main draw and had to play the number 7 seed , a 24-year-old from the Ukraine in the 2nd round, with a world ranking of 697.

I kept reminding myself I had nothing to lose , and it paid off: I knocked the number 7 seed out in 3 sets: 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. I was over the moon!!!

Next up was the quarter finals against the number 1 seed , a 23-year-old from Spain, with a world ranking of 430. (Again I told myself to GO FOR IT ... I’ve got NOTHING TO LOSE!) I managed to take her to 6 all in games the first set, and lost the tiebreaker and the second set. I was really proud of my Quarter Final achievement and also made it to the Quarter Finals of the Doubles.

I was warned about being careful of the water and food in Egypt, and so I travelled with a whole pharmacy of stomach medicines with me. BOY OH BOY did Gielie and I, need those! We were down and out for about two days.

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INTERNATIONAL SPORTING JOURNAL: TENNIS

Needless to say , the second tournament did not go that well. I qualified , but lost in the first round of the main draw.

I had to regroup and work through this disappointment , only to experience another big disappointment in the third tournament. I started doubting myself and had to really get myself back in the right frame of mind. Not easy! These girls are all good! Fortunately my doubles partner and I reached the finals of the Doubles Championships, which gave me a bit of confidence again.

With a few wise words from my team in South Africa, I pulled myself together and focused on my last tournament. I then received the wonderful news that I managed to make the 992nd spot on the WTA ranking list on 992!

That motivated me tremendously. I was looking forward to the fourth tournament.

I qualified for the main draw and believe it or not I drew the number 2 seed from Russia in the first round of the main draw. She ranked 448th in the world. My Luck!! I was ready for her, I was focused and wanted this badly!

I knocked her out 6-3, 6-3 . This was my ultimate win of the tour. I managed to proceed to the Quarter Finals in both the Singles and Doubles Championships, and gained more WTA points!

Mission Accomplished!

Homeward Bound! I can’t wait.

This is what I want to do, and this is what I’m going to do!

DREAM , BELIEVE , ACHIEVE!

I am so pleased with my performance, although not all good and a few hard disappointments, as I had my chances. But that’s life , I had to hold my head high and carry on, and I did! Next I leave for Australian Junior Open on the 28th of December 2013.

This will be my final year of Junior Grand Slam tournaments. Looking so forward to it!

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Wian Sullwald The tough get going

the TOUGH

GET GOING

After a tough season in 2013 I had a well-deserved break in early October after my last race in Cozumel Mexico, my training commenced again towards the end of that month. I eased into it, and in no time I got back to my usual level which was after about a week-and-a-half, I started with a big base block all the way through November and December. The first week in January I put my feet up for a few days getting fresh for my next block where I will be focusing on strength and speed.

November was a busy month for me, I got into my base training block that I did in Pretoria at the TUKS High Performance Centre (hpc).

This is also the time of the year for finalising big sponsorships for 2014. I went down to Cape Town and Stellenbosch to meet with Oakley and Specialized and finalise a partnership for 2014 which is really great and I am proud to be in partnership with them.

The next day I was back in to training in Pretoria. I also had a great meeting with the CEO of the hpc where we concluded a massive sponsorship for me and I am very proud to be partnered with them and very excited at the prospect of what lies ahead for our joint venture. Towards the end of November I headed to my home on the farm in Bela- Bela where I trained for a month. Just getting the long hours done all by myself was really great, and enabled me to do varied types of training, surrounded by the awesome support structure – my family. (I might add that it was fantastic spending most of my free time with my girl friend J).

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

INTERNATIONAL SPORTING JOURNAL: TRIATHLON ATHLETE

DIARY & JOURNAL

Towards the end of December we headed to Jeffrey’s Bay to our holiday house. I love hanging out there and training there is really great.

I finished up the last week of December training – no kidding – I did five hours on Christmas Day! Still, it was a good week in a refreshing environment. Thereafter I chilled with my girlfriend – a wonderful start to an exciting new year!

I returned home for a few days, after which I will be heading back to Pretoria to the hpc. I am now doing a strength block and working some speed in towards my first race on the 16th of February - the ITU African Sprint Cup in Cape Town.

I am very excited to say that the World Triathlon Series is moving to South Africa. The second leg of the Series will be held at the Waterfront in Cape Town. This is absolutely fantastic for our country and for Triathlon in our country; I am so chuffed to compete on home soil and not having to do a 20+ hour travel to get to a race. I am also thrilled to move into the World Series. It’s a huge step for me but I am confident and hoping for the best.

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ADVICE COLUMN: SPORT PERFORMANCE

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Ignatius Loubser Strength is a Skill

Strength is a Skill » Words by: Ignatius Loubser, Strength & Conditioning Specialist, hpc

‘Naat, did you do too many squats this morning, or have you been dipping into some old Soviet Union propaganda?’

This was the stock response when I told my peers about the subject of this article. Laugh all you want, but strength is a skill just like juggling tenpins on a unicycle is a skill.

★

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Game On Magazine, January: Issue 03, 2014

ADVICE COLUMN: Strength & Conditioning

Don’t take my word for it: experts like Pavel Tsatsouline (Master of Sport and Strength for the Russian and American special forces), Dr. Mell Siff, and Prof. Yuri Verkhoshanki all agree that strength is a skill that can be honed in various ways.

Weightlifting, powerlifting, strongman lifts, kettlebell lifting, bodyweight and gymnastics-based exercises, and core abdominal exercises are the whetstones on which strength is sharpened.

Unfortunately the majority of Strength and Conditioning (S&C) specialists still believe that working out entails slapping on a sweatband and putting in the hard yards.

To turn sweat into a science, four crucial aspects of strength development require attention: specialised and knowledgeable training, practice (no one juggles perfectly the first time), assistance and performance.

To make matters concrete, an example is useful. Let’s say an S&C coach uses squats as a primary movement to increase an athlete’s strength. Initially the focus will be on the method: how to move your body, what the purposes of the exercise are, and what benefits it holds.

Subsequent sessions will involve repeated movement with uncompromised form and technique – practice makes perfect! Assistance from a savvy training specialist will not only

aid motivation levels, but ensure pervasive quality of movement. Performance, the last building block, involves gauging the athlete’s strength by way of a 1RM (this refers to the maximum weight an athlete can manage with a single repetition).

To the four imperatives for strength development an apothegm may be added: strength equals tension. The ability of athletes to generate high levels of muscular action or tension is what determines their strength.

According to Pavel Tsatsouline, you can lift a car – you just don’t know it yet. The fact that we do not know how to activate 100% of our muscle fibres in a given moment is probably a good thing for our own and others’ health and safety, but it does leave room to explore the reserves of our strength.

For this reason S&C specialists need to become, well, more specialised; and strength should be viewed not as an attribute but as a skill.

Generating tension does not depend on the size of the muscles but the size of the lightning! By lightning I mean electricity – the electricity that you create in your brain and nervous system to activate muscle fibres. The lightning effect is the reason why a wiry 75 kg Powerlifter can deadlift 355 kg.

The average person can activate about 20% of their muscle fibres in a given muscle if they put maximum effort into a lift. Top powerlifters, on the other hand, use up to 50% because they have honed their strength.

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