Hive of sporting activity to hit town
A massive two weeks of sporting action is on the cards in East London as the city is set to be swamped by out-of-town athletes taking part in various sporting events.
Seven different events will be on show around the city, and will be bringing athletes and supporters from across the country to the city.
“As the Eastern Cape we are thrilled by the massive sporting events in the Buffalo City Metropolitan,” said Eastern Cape MEC for sport, recreation, arts and culture Bulelwa Tunyiswa.
“These events speak and translate to much-needed economic spikes and also allows up-and-coming athletes to see their sporting heroes in action. When a young athlete from his or her backyard sees their sporting hero in action, a seed of sport participation is planted.
“Furthermore, we have a track record of hosting world class, incident-free sporting events in this province and in this metro particularly, Ironman, being the recent success. We therefore are most assured that the upcoming events will be nothing but a great success, and thus wish every athlete every good success.”
Starting this Thursday, the annual Buffalo Regatta will get under way, with over 2,000 oarsmen and women taking part in the popular annual rowing event.
The Regatta will be battled out on Thursday and Saturday, while the exciting annual Selborne Sprints Regatta takes place on Friday, which is a highlight for many of the school rowing teams.
Also on Thursday, Border cricket will get their CSA threeday match under way against Pretoria visitors Northerns at Buffalo Park.
It will be another stern test for the young Border team, but they will hope for a positive performance that will set them up for the one-day match that will follow on Sunday after the three-day finishes on Saturday.
On Friday the fiercely competitive annual Vides water polo tournament kicks into high gear, hosted by Selborne and played at Selborne College and Hudson Park High school water polo pools, with the final to be competed on Sunday morning.
Twenty teams will be taking part in the tournament, with the sides coming from the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Gauteng, Weeks of top class sport action up ahead for EL State.
On Sunday the annual Merrifield Mile will see over a thousand swimmers descend on Wriggleswade Dam to enjoy the family friendly event.
Five different swimming disciplines will be held, allowing for swimmers of all ages to take KwaZulu-Natal and Free part, while the main event will be the exciting 1.6km race.
Also on Sunday the CocaCola Schools T20 Border finals will be held at Selborne College, with the semifinals and final to be played.
The winner of that final will then have the chance to represent the Warriors at the national finals in Pretoria in March.
Next week the Varsity rugby season will be kicking off in the city, with an exciting doubleheader being held at the BCM Stadium on Thursday.
With the disappointment of the Border Bulldogs being sidelined, this should give rugby fans something to enjoy, with the Walter Sisulu University All Blacks taking on Nelson Mandela University and the Fort Hare Blues up against Rhodes University, while both matches will be televised live on SuperSport.
Saturday will then see a hectic sporting period come to an end, with the annual Surfers Marathon, with thousands of runners set to take on the iconic running event.