The Free State Province is to host the Annual National Golden Games (NGG) during this month under the theme: “Getting and Staying Active in later Years.” The games, which are in their third year, will for the first time ever be hosted in this province. The National Golden Games involve teams from all nine provinces who participate and compete in different sporting codes over a 3-day period.
Over the past two months, the various provinces have held respective Provincial Golden Games to identify athletes and select teams that will represent them at the national event.
The games are aimed at identifying talented and competitive young athletes, in order to provide them with professional coaching as well as an opportunity to better improve their skills and competencies. They are structured to accommodate different sport codes that include athletics, soccer, netball and they serve as a platform for athletes to compete at a professional level and to share knowledge and techniques in their respective sport codes.
The Department of Sport and Recreation adopted the Golden Games as a vehicle to promote active ageing, which is a declaration of the Madrid International Plan of Active Ageing.
Over the last few years, a number of participants in the games progressed to represent the country internationally in different codes.
Older persons from across the spectrum of society are expected to attend the games. These include older persons from rural areas, informal settlements, and urban centres and so on.
The games coincide with the Annual General Meeting of the South African Older Persons’ Forum.
The Minister of Sport, Fikile Mbalula, will preside over the games, which are organised jointly by the National and Provincial Departments of Sport, Health, and Social Development. The 2011 National Golden Games will be held as follows:
Date: 20 to 21 October 2011
Venue: Seeisa Ramabodu Stadium (Bloemfontein)
Time: 09h00
Your media establishment is cordially invited to attend a full media briefing in this regard which will be held on 18 October 2011 at the auditorium of the Free State Sport Science Institute in Bloemfontein.
Enquiries:
Tankiso Zola
Tel: (051) 4104742/ 4786/ 4719
Email: tankiso@sacr.fs.gov.za
