The 2023 North West Sport Awards held on Saturday, 18 November at the Mmabatho Convention Centre saw numerous Potchefstroom-based athletes rewarded for their sporting efforts in the past year.
Leon Els (wheelchair tennis) won the Sportsman of the Year with a disability award, whilst Proteas and NWU netball star, Elmeré van der Berg was named as the Sportswoman of the Year.
Els won four titles in 2023 including the African Para Games doubles title. He has also represented SA at two Paralympic Games in 2016 and 2021.
Van der Berg was one of the Proteas top players during the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town and will be joining the Manchester Thunder for six months in the upcoming 2024 Super League Netball season in England.
North West Cricket were also awarded as the Federation of the Year, after a successful year of hosting international cricket matches and developing the game of cricket as various levels.
Kamogelo Moncho, from Ikageng, was named as the Young Athlete of the Year after winning gold in the 5000m at the Special Olympics in Berlin in 2023. He is also the SA Champion in the 5000m and 1500m after achieving gold at the SA Sports for the Intellectually Impaired Championships.
ACNW athlete, Tshepo Tshite, was named as the Sportsman of the Year after achieving a first place at the 2023 SA Championships in the 1500 metres and qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Potchefstroom Herald journalist, Wouter Pienaar, was also named as a finalist in the Sport Journalist of the Year category (print). Hardus du Plessis, a learner at Laerskool Baillie Park, was also a finalist in the Young Athlete of the Year category for Ring Contact Fighting.
The NW MEC for Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation, Keneetswe Mosenogi, stated that all the nominees and winners can be proud of their achievements.
“You are here amongst the best of the best. Being nominees shows that we as a department and seeing your effort. May it serve as motivation to come back next year and stand on the winner’s podium. Congratulations to all our winners,” she stated.
