Buffalo City set for SA Games
17 December 2003
Buffalo City - the municipality comprising East London, King William's Town and Bisho - is gearing up to host the South African Games in March 2004, with the organisers predicting a "superlative and exuberant" event when 2 000 of the country's top young athletes descend on the coastal city of East London.
The South African Games, held in the 1960s and '70s to bolster sport in isolated apartheid South Africa, were revived in 2002 as a platform for uncovering new talent and developing sport among the country's up-and-coming athletes.
'Today's youth, tomorrow's stars'
The Games feature nine sporting codes in age groups from under-17 to under-19. The motto for the five-day event is "today's youth, tomorrow's stars".
According to the South African Sports Commission, the goals of the SA Games are to develop athletes for future international competition, provide a launching pad for sports development, and promote
sports tourism in the country.
Disabled integration
The commission will also use the Games to promote the integration of mainstream with disabled sport, to promote sport in rural areas, and to encourage the participation of women and young people from disadvantaged communities.
SA Sports Commission Director Joe Phaahla said the SA Games have an important role to play in providing a platform for discovering and nurturing sporting talent in South Africa - as well as regenerating a passion for sport among the country's youth.
According to the Commission, the choice of sports for the Games was based on codes that are popular at the Commonwealth Games, Olympics, Paralympics and All Africa Games, and in which both men and women can take part.
The sports selected for the South African Games are: athletics (under-17), cricket (under-18), swimming (under-18), soccer (under-17), rugby sevens (under-19), hockey (under-19), and netball
(under-19).
Disabled athletes will compete in athletics, swimming, soccer, table tennis and goal ball.
R16m upgrade for facilities
Buffalo City has been hard at work preparing for the Games, with R16-million being spent on upgrading facilities. The National Lottery has sponsored R4.7-million of that amount.
City mayor Sindisile McLean said he has been pleasantly surprised by the work that organisers have put into their preparations. "We are looking to be a tourism spectacle. When these visitors leave Buffalo City, they'll always want to come back and make it their holiday destination", McLean said.
The head of the organising committee, Councillor Sindiswa Ngomba, has high hopes for the Games. "We are going to use the Absa Stadium, Sisa Dukashe, the Joan Harrison Swimming Pool, the Selborne Tennis Club and the Xerox Park Hockey Astroturf in Bunkers Hill", Ngomba said. "All these facilities will be world-class when the games
commence."
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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