The Corner Flag: It was a year to remember
If anyone would have told me we would have the year we had on the sporting front, I would have given them Kevin Hickley's soft chuckle and dismissed them. But in the end, it was the busiest year we've had since I started with the paper three years ago.
Sharing the same media room with West Indies great and one of the best cricket commentators in the world, Ian Bishop, along with some of the finest cricket journalists at Willowmoore Park during the ICC U19 World Cup in February, was a moment I will cherish for a long time.
After Ian shook my hand and complimented us on the match reports in the paper, I felt like a child with candy.
But that was the beginning of a crazy year. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for anything else.
It was such a busy year that I can’t recall half the events we covered.
We walked the length and breadth of our community, going as far as Kagiso in the West Rand and Bloemfontein, tracking our talented athletes.
Showjumping individual championship open 1.10m title.
None of this bunch of talented athletes disappointed us. So our escapades throughout Benoni, Central Gauteng, the Vaal and Free State were worth it.
I knew we were primed for a hot year when Olympian Elroy Gelant crossed the line to win the Johnson Crane Hire Marathon men’s half-marathon in January, but nothing could’ve prepared me more than when another Olympian, Cian Oldknow, smashed the women’s marathon record at the race.
Oldknow had just obliterated the Springs Striders Race women’s 32km mark weeks earlier and would go on to win the women’s 10km race at the Benoni Northerns Marathon in April, where the 48km ultra was reintroduced.
The Ride for Sight at Boksburg City Stadium in February was another spectacle and this year, visually impaired and physically disabled cyclists participated in the race for the first time.
If the Ride for Sight shone the spotlight on those living with disabilities, then the International Bowls for the Disabled tournament, which Benoni co-hosted, took disability sports to another level.
These larger-than-life characters defined the meaning of living life to the fullest. The banter on the greens added a different element. You had to be there to laugh with them when a bowler without a lower limb was called ‘hop-along’ or ‘lefty’ for one without a left arm.
The four-all derby draw between Old Bens and Northerns at Currin Park kicked us into gear but the exploits of the SOWLE Centre athletes on the track and field proved that there is no ‘dis’ in their abilities.
Our young runners did the job in the CGA cross-country season from April to August with over 20 of them representing the province at the ASA nationals at the Vaal University of Technology.
They did the same in the recently concluded sub-youth track and field season and it was so emotional watching them in their CGA colours at the nationals in Bloemfontein.
The second instalment of the Jozi SEESA Triathlon at CR Swart Dam was another spectacle. Olympian and triathlon great, Henri Schoeman gave it a thumbs up, a gesture that surely pleased organiser, Glen Gore, as he prepares for next year’s event on September 28.
Victoria Greyvensteyn and Jaimie Riley continued to raise our community’s flag aloft in show-jumping nationals, with Greyvensteyn grabbing a bronze for SA at the FEI World Challenge finals in Uzbekistan.
Thank you all for the interviews and chats on the sidelines.
Thanks to our readers for their feedback, positive and negative. It’s appreciated.
Enjoy the holidays. See you all next year.
Also Read: The Corner Flag: More to sport than just winning
Also Read: The Corner Flag: Dreams do come true
