In this #PowerOfRecognition interview series on Father’s Day, 2021 Momentum gsport Awards Supporter of the Year winner, Andries Kruger says receiving recognition has inspired him to continue his work in uplifting the profile of women in sport.

Kruger is father to one of South Africa’s top para sport stars, Simoné Kruger. Kruger stands by his daughter through thick and thin and uses his camera to drive media coverage and raise the profile of women’s sport.

Whenever Simoné achieves on the track, he is the first to ensure that the media gets access to information.

Speaking with Rudene Hare, Kruger shares his thoughts on The Year of Women’s Sport and shares a message of advice to other fathers on how they can support their daughter’s sporting careers.

Andries, welcome back to gsport. How have you been?

With me as a person it is really going well.  Life is moving so fast that I really do my best to enjoy life to its fullest. In the last while as a father and a coach to Simoné it has been superb.

At the 2021 Momentum gsport Awards, you were awarded the Supporter of the Year crown, let’s talk about what led to you winning this award.

This award was all about my support on a coaching and photography level of women’s sport and specifically Para Athletics, and also my contribution to this young phenomenal athlete and person, Simoné. I took up coaching Simoné 5 years before receiving this award and also supported her at the same time doing still photography, to be able to expose and market her love for sport. What really stood out was the fact that we were able to coach Simoné to break the Discus F38 Women’s world record at the age of 14 and receive a silver medal at the WPA meeting in Dubai in 2019.

Why do you think Power of Recognition is important?

Power of Recognition is extremely important in every person’s life. We all have times where recognition motivates us to continue and many times to improve. Continual hard work can become very stressful at a stage and when Power of Recognition is done you reflect on the journey and make time to realise that it is all worth it. 

Power of Recognition is also the fun and enjoyment part of this journey and passion of yours. And, it brings you so much closer to many people that rewards and recognizes your hard work and ability. 

What was the best part of your Momentum gsport Awards experience?

During this very prestigious event, you are placed between the most talented and hard working individuals which share this passion of yours. To be among the best of the best was an enormous honour to me and this made me so grateful to be recognized amongst these wonderful groups of people.

What are your thoughts on the Year of Women’s Sport and the spotlight on Women’s Sport in 2023?

I am very close to Garsfontein High School and had the opportunity to experience the participation of young sports girls with enormous international talent. This made me realise that women’s sport in SA in 2023 is extremely healthy. 

Here I refer to Simoné Kruger 18, Simoné Lourens 16 and Lara van Niekerk 20 years old. This is only a drop in a huge pool of very talented and passionate Womens athletes in SA.

At the recent Comrades Marathon, I was amazed and spoiled with the best women’s race ever. Gerda Steyn broke the record and her second place compatriot also completed the race under 6 hours.  What more can you expect in terms of women that excelled in sport in 2023. Then to top all of these achievements came Faith Kipyegon from Kenya and broke the world records for the 1500m and the 5000m in a matter of 1 Month. These two records moved me with so much emotion and respect.

Women are createing their own spotlight in sport in 2023 with these wonderful achievements and showed us that Women’s Sport is fit and healthy and ready to take their place on every stage.

What do you think of the impact of the work gsport does?

The impact of the work gsport does has grown exponentially in the last few years. The exposure women all over the world receive on their social media is seen on a daily basis. Many times the social media platforms of gsport are the first to announce the achievements of women in sport and get recognized immediately. I have followed gsport now for many years and the professional stage that Kass Naidoo and Celine Abrahams have entered speaks volumes. They are now two of the best in their field and the way they lead the gsport organization will make way for many gsport presenters and journalists to come.

What can we do to close the visibility gap in women’s sport?

I really feel gsport is making an enormous difference in the visibility gap in women’s sport. This said, I really feel that contributors to women’s sport need to get together and see how women athletes in SA can be assisted to receive sponsorships and financial contributions to continue being athletes and represent South Africa beyond their school careers.

Sponsorships are really needed on so many levels to assist an athlete to be professional and representable. I definitely see in our immediate environment of para sport, sponsorships are few and far between and in many cases none. Even just the assistance in sporting apparel will make a major difference and we could very quickly see the field of women’s sport grow, especially athletics. 

You are your daughter Simoné’s biggest supporter. What is your message to other dads on how they can support their young girls and women in sport?

Firstly, I think any daughter-father relationship is very unique. The ups and downs would also be very different. This is due to any relationship depending on the type of person. Yes there will be downs but the ups far exceed the downs. Saying this I can really say that we all have a responsibility to firstly discover our child’s specific talents. Having discovered that, it is also our duty as fathers to help them develop those talents to become the person God intended us to be. The moment your child knows who they are, they mature very fast because they accept themselves.

One of the first focusses we had with Simoné was to do our best to teach her to be humble. This we did because she showed potential at a very young age and we realized this will make an enormous difference in her life.

As a father I quickly realized that in sport there will always be downs and I had to first learn to accept those downs and understand them before I could help Simoné to realise the downs are the biggest lessons learned. This helped her to always enjoy life in her sport and even in her academics.

It is so important for every father to realise that girls specifically look up to us as fathers and we are their real heros even if we fail.

Find a way to love your kids in every season of their life, it will be worth it. 

Photo 1 Caption: 2021 Momentum gsport Awards Supporter of the Year Andries Kruger and daughter Simoné Kruger. Photo: Supplied

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