“This past year has been an unbelievable journey for women in sport as the emphasis placed on the female athlete has been more prominent than ever.”

These were the words of a proud Morgan Moss, chief instructor at the Morgan Moss Karate (MMK) dojo in Mindalore after two female athletes from his dojo had won awards at the Women in Sports Awards event in Sandton in late March.

He explained that female athletes from across Gauteng, as well as their clubs, were celebrated at this event.

Danielle van Wyk and Hayley Bothma from the MMK represented the West Rand at the awards. Both women did extremely well and were honoured – Danielle received the Gauteng Sportswoman of the Year award, while Hayley received the Gauteng Sports Achiever of the Year award.

For these young karate athletes to be considered among the best, not only in their sport but among all sports, is an amazing achievement,” Morgan said.

The MMK club, which was named the West Rand Club of the Year by the West Rand Sports Confederation, was also among the top five finalists of the Gauteng Sports Club of the Year at these awards. They also boasted with another member of their club, Anette Venter, finishing in the top five for the Gauteng Administrator of the Year award.

Morgan explained that with gender-based violence being a serious issue, the need to be involved in sport and in self-defence programmes is becoming increasingly important.

He said that both Danielle and Hayley are proud to be representing the sport of karate, and the values it represents, and are looking forward to seeing more girls join the sport and empower themselves.