Seven household West Rand names among finalists at 2021 Gauteng Sports Awards

The 2021 Gauteng Sports Awards will once again honour those athletes, teams, administrators and media personalities who have made an impact on South African sport through their performances. The event will be on Sunday, November 14.

The finalists for the 10th edition of the prestigious awards were announced at an event hosted by the Gauteng MEC of Sport, Mbali Hlophe in the Sedibeng District Municipality.

This year, there are 19 categories up from 16 in previous years.

“It is really with great delight that we announce the nominees of this year’s Gauteng Sports Awards,” said Hlophe.

“The pandemic caused us to put a halt to sport for more than a year and we have had to find unique ways in which to bring back sport to our communities. Sport is such a vital part of our lives and more often than not unites us as communities. So it was really difficult for us to have to cancel the 2020 edition of the Gauteng Sports Awards. It gives us immense pleasure to be able to once again honour and reward Gauteng’s best athletes, administrators, coaches and media personalities who have been able to keep us entertained and who have overcome so much in the past 18 months.”

Amongst the nominees for Sportswoman of the Year are Olympic Gold medallist and world recorder holder, Tatjana Schoenmaker.

Tatjana, a former Hoërskool Noordheuwel learner, who needs no introduction is among the nominees after her two-medal haul at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Not only did she bag silver in the 100m breaststroke but clinched gold in the 200m breaststroke. She then had South Africans in a frenzy when she set a new Olympic record of 1:04.82 in the women’s 100m breaststroke semi-finals on July 25. She then went on to win convincingly and set a new world record time of 2:18.95 in the 200m breaststroke.

It is also no surprise that Rocco Meiring, Tatjana’s coach is on the list for Coach of the Year, while Pierre Blignaut, also as one of the nominees in the Coach of the Year category and co-founder along with Eben Vermaas of the Pierre Blignaut Shot Put and Discus Academy in Krugersdorp accompanied the athletes to Tokyo as coach at age 72. He is one of South Africa’s top shot put and discus coaches.

Ilse Roets-Pelser, a former Protea gymnast who runs JGC Gymnastics, which is considered to be the leading Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Club, was nominated in the Coach of the Year category as well.

The so-called gentle giant, Kyle Blignaut is among the contenders as Most Promising Athlete after his sixth place in the men’s shot put final at the Olympic Games. This category is arguably one of the most tightly contested of the awards as Kyle – a Monnas old boy and product of the Pierre Blignaut Shot Put and Discus Academy – will be up against Caitlin Rooskrantz who became the first South African gymnast to qualify for the Olympics since Zandre Labuschagne did so in 2004. She is the first South African gymnast of colour to don the Green and Gold at the Olympics. Caitlyn is from the Johannesburg Gymnastics Centre (JGC) in Newlands on the border of Roodepoort.

Paralympian Simone Kruger, another product of the Pierre Blignaut Shot Put and Discus Academy finished fifth in the final of the women’s discus – F38.

Tatjana is also a nominee in the Sport Personality of the Year Award category. The winner of this award will be decided by public vote which opened on Friday, October 15 and closes at noon on November 14.

• To vote for Tatjana, SMS Sport02 for (Tatjana Schoenmaker) to 45682. SMS charged at R1.50. Free SMSes do not apply. There is no limit to the number of SMSes sent per cellphone number.

Finally, karate master Morgan Moss, the chief instructor and owner of the Morgan Moss Karate (MMK) dojo in Breaunanda, also made the list of nominees for Sportsman of the Year.