Great day as MBSA gets award
Ex-Bok legend hands firm the Laureus statuette for its work
IT WAS a moment to savour when former Springbok rugby captain Morné du Plessis handed over a statuette of an award from the Laureus SA (LSA) to officials of the Mercedes-Benz SA (MBSA) for work done in using sport to uplift communities in the country.
Du Plessis, chairman of LSA, received a magnificent statuette in Monaco recently for the SA chapter managing the most projects from a total of 120 from various countries around the world.
Du Plessis was in East London to officially launch the Waves for Change (W4C) surf therapy initiative under the aegis of the prestigious Laureus Sport for Good Foundation SA at the Mercedes-Benz Hall this week. What is significant about the Laureus World Sports Award, deemed the “Oscars of Sport” is it also recognises the achievements of some of the world’s greatest sportsmen and women.
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt was crowned Sportsman of the Year at the ceremony in Monaco in February, while American gymnast Simone Biles was named Sportswoman of the Year.
Other greats were also fêted with American swimmer Michael Phelps honoured in the Comeback of the Year category, while F1 racing driver Nico Rosberg got Breakthrough of the Year award.
The W4C programme received the Laureus Sport for Good Award for having a huge impact among underprivileged schoolchildren who live along the coastline, with more than 50 coaches involved in training them how to surf.
Du Plessis, when in EL, and colleague Keuen Roberts visited several schools in Parkside and Buffalo Flats that are affiliated to the initiative.
AW Barnes Primary School principal, Geoff Gamiet, lauded the W4C for changing the attitudes of the pupils involved in surf therapy. “Absenteeism has dropped, parents are getting more involved,” he said
Harking back to the days of playing rugby, Du Plessis said although he had played during the apartheid years, he had memories of the way the 1995 World Cup united the country. “This was probably the first time this had ever happened.”
Du Plessis added that his sporting achievements on the field “pale into insignificance when I realised the power of sport to do good,” the credo of Laureus, set up at its inception in Monaco in 2000.
Most of the invited famous sports personalities of the time were unsure exactly what was required of them until the magical moment when former SA president Nelson Mandela took to the stage to encourage them to look at sport to help uplift their communities, he said.
Feliciano Janneker, manager of corporate affairs at MBSA, said the company was proud of its involvement in community upliftment, which included education and youth development.
A former England youth rugby player, Tim Conibear, told of how the W4C started. He was in SA for the 1995 World Cup, and on returning to the Western Cape in 2008, he saw the need to develop a sports programme to assist underprivileged youth.
A keen surfer, he decided on surf therapy.
“We now coach more than 600 kids a week along our coast,” he said.