Awards given at sport council meeting
The Eden Sport Council hosted its annual members meeting on Thursday, 25 October in the Conference Hall, Civic Centre, George.
A total of 38 federations and 74 persons attended.
The opportunity was given to members and management to interact on mutual matters. Marcelle Musson, the Western Cape manager of the National Lotteries Commission, presented on the procedures of lotto funding specifically of sport clubs, sport federations, schools and sport councils.
As part of their vision of honouring top performances, the sport council embarked on the project of continually awarding accolades to sport persons who have excelled beyond the normal expectations. The first of the chairperson's accolades were presented at the members' meeting.
The first three recipients were:
Elma Davis (Eden Bowls) for winning the SA Masters Ladies' Championships
Billy Radloff (Eden Bowls) for winning the SA Masters Men's Championships
Minke Janse van Rensburg (Swimming Sport for Special Needs) for her meteoric rise and for setting a number of SA, Africa and world records.
The Western Sport Photographer of the Year Award was handed to Deidre Cloete as she could not attend the event in Cape Town earlier.
What makes the performances of Elma and Billy so impressive is that they (and Eden Bowls) are the first ever bowlers to bring back these titles to Eden. Desmond Speelman, chair of the sport council, presented the awards.
Two new co-opted members of the Exco were introduced - Elma Davis (athletes' representative) and Michelle Behrens (chair: colours commission). Speelman thanked the outgoing athletes' representative, Kittie Terblanche, for her unselfish contribution Desmond Speelman handing over the Western Cape Award to Deidre Cloete. towards sport in Eden.
EDENSC has two finalists for the SA Sport Awards to be held on 11 November in Johannesburg – Minke Janse van Rensburg (Sport for Special Needs Persons) in the category of Newcomer of the Year and The Surfer Kids (the surfing NPO in Mossel Bay) in the category, Recreation Sport Body of the Year.
In his report, Jean Neethling of the Department of Culture and Sport (DCAS) mentioned that 19 major events funded by DCAS were hosted in Eden.
The chair unequivocally stated that the official name of Eden Sport Council will not be affected by the new name of the Garden Route District Municipality at present.The Eden name replaced the SWD name four years ago and the changeover process was not even finished yet.
Forty-three of the 51 affiliated federations are functioning under the Eden name. Neethling said: "The Eden Sport Council will meet with the Garden Route District Municipality to discuss the co-operation between them.
"The financial position at present is stable and the affiliation fee has been increased to R600 from the 2019/20 financial year, whereas the administration is on a sound footing."
People are invited to visit the website www.edensc.co.za - and also to find the latest news on members' activities on their facebook page, Eden Sport Council.