South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) first vice-president, Lwandile Simelane, is grateful after she was announced as the Chef de Mission for Team South Africa for the upcoming Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Speaking on the appointment Simelane says: “I am super excited to be named the Chef de Mission for the games. I am grateful for the opportunity.”
In under 50 days, Simelane along with the South African delegation of athletes, coaches and administrators descend upon the second largest city in the UK, Birmingham, aiming to fly the flag and make the country proud.
While this is not the final list, athletes across 16 sporting codes were named to represent Team SA. The qualification process for the sports for the Games is almost final, but there is a possibility that additional codes and athletes will still qualify before the June 29 deadline. Some sports are also still tying up their squads.
Simelane, who is also the SA Hockey Vice President, is hoping that those chosen to be ambassadors for South Africa in Birmingham give their best and enjoy their moment on the world stage.
“Athletes in this country sacrifice a lot to even qualify for such events so I really want them to have a great time and give their best possible performance,” she added.
A total of about 190 athletes were announced to fly the South African flag; the country will have the largest ever female and para sport programme in history.
“Although the full team has not been announced yet, we already seeing that we are well on our way to have a majority women team for these games. In addition to this it’s further amazing to note that there is a larger para compliment in the games this year.
“We look forward to the inaugural inclusion of women’s T20 cricket also and Team SA will have a women’s hockey, rugby, cricket, wheelchair basketball, gymnastics, table tennis and netball teams in the team sports category. We will also have increased para representation with wheelchair basketball, para lawn bowls, para swimming, para athletics and para triathlon.”
Simelane is no stranger to the pitch as she represented her province as a hockey player before breaking into sports administration, where she has steadily cultivated an impressive portfolio of experience, leading her to her position at SASCOC.
With South Africa commemorating Youth Day on the 16th of June, Simelane says we truly need young people to help in securing the future of sport in this country. She has also urged the youth to sign up and be athletes, technical officials, coaches or even administrators.
Photo 1 Caption: South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) first vice-president, Lwandile Simelane, is grateful after she was announced as the Chef de Mission for Team South Africa for the upcoming Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Photo: Lwandile Simelane (Instagram)
(0 rating, 0 votes, rated)
Loading...
