Provincial MEC of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Dr Ivan Meyer, assisted by the newly appointed CEO of South African Rugby, Jurie Roux, opened the annual South African Fishing Industry Sports Tournament on Friday, 29 October.
Minister Meyer said, "Events like this one form part of the future that I envision for sports in the Western Cape, where development takes top priority and anyone with talent has an equal opportunity to be identified and represent not only this province, but South Africa in the various sporting codes."
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) has elevated the status of the tournament by including it in its talent identification programme since 2008. Sports stars that have participated in the South African Fishing Industry Sports Tournament and at national and provincial level include:
- Enrico January - Boland, Western Province, and Springboks
- Wayne Julies - Stormers, Blue Bulls and Springboks
- Rayno Benjamin - Boland, Stormers, Sprinbok Sevens
- Dale Santon - Boland, Blue Bulls and Springboks.
The MEC congratulated SARU for broadening its base to identify player potential, which can only bode well for the national teams.
24 fish factories from the Western Cape participated in the 'rugby, netball and soccer' tournament, and represented areas such as Gansbaai, Houtbay, Veldrift and LambertsBay. More than 10 000 spectators attended the two day event.
The tournament dates back to 1987, when it was started as a rugby initiative by Dr Danie Craven, Ian Kirkpatrick and Dougie Deyers. Since then the tournament has developed to include additional sporting codes, such as soccer and netball. 12 rugby teams, 24 netball teams and 24 soccer teams participated this year.
The Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS), which became involved in 2006 is part of the Local Organising Committee.
Outcomes of the 2010 tournament:
Rugby finals: Sea Harvest versus Gansbaai .The game went into extra time as the score was levelled at 17/17 after full time. A drop goal gave Sea Harvest the victory. Soccer finals: I&J Trawling beat Sea Harvest 3-1
Netball comprised four plates and the winners of the plates are:
| Plate A | Plate B | Plate C |
| I&J Trawling | Block busters B (I&J) | Oceana/St Helena |
| West Point A | Eigel Vis A | Westpoint B |
| Sea Harvest | Noordbaai | Sea Harvest B |
Enquiries:
Greg Wagner
Cell: 072 623 4499
