Programme Director
President of SAGF, Mrs Elizabeth Cameron-Smith
Members of the Executive of SAGF
Officials of SRSA
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
It gives me tremendous pride and pleasure to be here today to address you at this farewell function for our Team South Africa that is heading to Lausanne, Switzerland to participate at the week-long 14th World Gymnaestrada event from 10 to 16 July 2011. This will mark the 9th time that South Africa has participated in this international event, which takes place every four years. More than 20 000 international gymnasts of all ages, from 55 countries, will be participating at this year’s festival.
This event is the biggest non-competitive mass-participation sports festival in the world, with this year’s theme being Meet the Magic.
It is a festival or showcase of gymnastics, which provides the opportunity for both non-elite gymnasts and elite gymnasts to combine, including gymnasts of all ages and fitness levels, who will execute gymnastic displays and performances in the week-long festival. There will be no winners or losers, therefore no prizes will be given out either. You could say that the ultimate prize is having the opportunity to showcase your talent and represent your country at any age, at the same time being exposed to other cultures and meeting people from other countries.
Team South Africa will consist of 530 participants, with representation from all 9 provinces, spreading across urban to rural towns, even including participants from the smallest villages.
Seventy percent (70%) of the total number of participants have been funded by Provincial Departments of Sport and Sport and Recreation South Africa. It is very pleasing to note that the biggest group of gymnasts and officials will be from the Northern Cape, having a representation of 101 participants. The youngest participant is 11 years of age and the oldest 70 years of age!
In addition to the festival where gymnasts will perform in the opening and closing ceremony, and on three other occasions in the week, performing as a provincial unit, approximately 10 countries will have a special opportunity to further perform and showcase their own national culture, traditions and heritage through the performance of one national gymnastic display called a National Evening.
The South African National Evening will take place on Tuesday, 12 July 2011. All South African gymnasts will participate in this night's activities, which will be choreographed by Maureen van Rooyen.
In addition to the South African National Evening, an elite group of 20 men from the North West Province have also been selected to represent Africa at the FIG Gala Show on 15 and 16 July 2011.
In conjunction to the festival, SAGF will also be allowed to exhibit and use this opportunity to market the 2nd World Gym for Life Challenge, which will be hosted by the City of Cape Town in 2013, and which has been endorsed by my Department.
According to Anton Jordaan, the SAGF Gymnaestrada Project Manager, “We intend to use this opportunity to introduce the World Gym for Life Challenge 2013 as an ice breaker as this will be the first Gymnastics for All event to be hosted outside of Europe”. “We hope the participants warm up to the idea of travelling out of Europe to participate in the 2nd edition of this event in South Africa”.
Through SAGF’s National Participation Strategy and SRSA’s Mass Participation Programme, participation at the 14th World Gymnaestrada event in Lausanne promises to be a celebration of the extensive ground work put in place over the past 4 years to send this team to Switzerland. I therefore trust that all our participants are immensely proud to represent Team South Africa and participate at this prestigious event.
This is an outstanding achievement that should be celebrated, and I believe it not only highlights the rise in Gymnaestrada participation in South Africa, but it also heralds a promising future for recreation and sport in South Africa.
It is quite obvious from the demonstrations you will witness this evening that Gymnaestrada continues to make significant strides and this is a product not only of the tireless efforts of the gymnastics family, but also the support of our government which is committed to the pursuit of recreational activities that offer access to the masses of our people to have fun and keep healthy, and its ongoing contribution towards a healthy nation, “a winning nation”.
The Department of Sport and Recreation has this year recognised recreation as one of six key priorities in its Road Map to sporting excellence in South Africa, and this can only bode well for the continued growth of activities such as Gymnaestrada and similar festivals involving the masses in movement activities. Our government is committed to supporting and working with partners, participants, parents and organisers like you to help our country continue to grow from strength to strength, and events such as this are very important to this process.
South Africa has enjoyed significant success with a number of large international sporting events such as the 2010 Football World Cup, and the success of these events has greatly increased South Africa’s standing in the international sports arena. I have high hopes that the World Gym for Life Challenge in 2013 will follow in this fine tradition and raises the bar even further.
Ladies and Gentlemen, of course you are here today not to listen to lengthy speeches, but to get right in to the fun and action of the activity that will have you occupied for the next week.
I wish all of you the very best of luck, a fusion of colourful outfits, magical moves, brilliant choreography, breath taking gymnastic performances, and of course, new friendships. Switzerland is a beautiful country, also rich in culture and history, so please take time to explore the country as much as you can.
Let us put our hands together and acknowledge our Team SA with a hearty round of applause!
I thank you for your kind attention!
