4201

Awards’ planning is in full swing, gsport has moved offices, and friends have been getting married left, right, and centre. It’s been hard to keep a sense of balance, but we’ve had such fun. Now its time to get down to the serious business of ensuring we have another memorable morning when gsport…for Girls! celebrates her birthday on 1 August 2008, at Jacaranda Hill, Westcliff Hotel.

In
celebration of this special day gsport will host its second annual
Awards function, where its four Leading Ladies of the Year will be
revealed. Just looking at the most recent stats, Internet voting has
been humming along rather nicely, and has far exceeded last year’s
numbers, which saw gsport record just 865 votes across all four
categories – Woman of the Year, Woman in Media, Style Star of the Year,
and gSTAR of the Year. By Thursday evening, there were over 50,000
votes recorded in the Woman of the Year category alone!

We’re also really excited about our gsport Hall of Fame inductee, who will be unveiled at the 2008 gsport Awards. She truly embodies the Olympic spirit… I still remember when we decided last year that 80s netball phenomenon Hazel Gumede would be the 2007 gsport Hall of Fame inductee. Ryk and I went off to the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, where Hazel was busy with yet another netball training camp.

It was a real honour to meet her. She was so happy to be chosen, and I was so happy that she was happy. I spent the next few weeks calling Hazel often, as she recounted her story. I visited her at home and spent time with her family, who were clearly in awe of her. I learnt so much from talking to her about her life and her love for sport. She achieved great things on the court as a young netball player, and now she is achieving great things off the field as a coach and a mentor.

The gsport initiative was born out of a longing to raise the profile of women in sport and showcase vibrant South African women as role models. To date, gsport has featured 96 unbelievable women, who personify femininity, strength, and strong will. On 1 August, we get to celebrate everything that is wonderful about being a woman!