Comrades legend Bruce Fordyce with his dream team of ultra-marathon runners, Bongmusa Mthembu, David Gatebe and Jenna Challenor, have won the BrightRock Battle of the Sports Challenge winning ultimate bragging rights over Team Rugby, Team Cricket and Team Soccer.
“It’s been an exceptional experience and a privilege to watch these world-class athletes battle it out over the gruelling 200km endurance race on the Verneukpan in the dry salt pans of the Northern Cape,” said Clive Grinaker, CEO of Grinsport Consulting, who initiated the event.
Grinaker said the challenge, with the support of BrightRock, the event’s founding sponsor and partner, has always been about doing something bigger than ourselves and effecting positive change by helping raise money for vulnerable communities most hard hit by Covid-19.
To date, R500 000 has been raised for vulnerable communities affected by the pandemic.
The funding is already being used in handovers arranged by the Right to Care team.
In the last two weeks critical food parcels, essential goods and PPE have been donated to the elderly at Thembalami, to the elderly and disabled at Itlhokomeleng Association in Alexandra and Nazareth House in Yeoville, to the children at Luvuyo Orphanage, and to children and adults with profound intellectual and physical disabilities at Tumelo Home in the heart of Ivory Park.
“It has been a pleasure and a privilege working with our athletes, with our intrepid expedition leader, Erik Vermeulen, our committed sponsors, including BrightRock, Fireblade Aviation, Northern Cape Tourism Authority, Nature Hike Africa, Landrover Centurion, XCO and Biogen and Monate Coffee, who have made this event a reality. Finally with our partners, the highly respected, independent Right to Care (www.righttocare.org), who have not only matched our fund-raising rand for rand but who have also overseen the allocation of funds.”
Prof Ian Sanne, CEO of Right to Care, said:
“Thank you for the supreme efforts of Grinsport, BrightRock and all the sporting teams who participated in the BrightRock Battle of the Sports. It’s been a privilege for Right to Care to be involved and we are delighted to be able to allocate all of the funds raised towards vulnerable communities affected by the virus.
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“USAID has provided matching funds towards facilities which house vulnerable and institutionalised people – old age homes, and those with mental or emotional challenges, as well as Covid-19 prevention in vulnerable populations. This amounts to R5.5-million in support of the BrightRock Battle of the Sports programme objectives. These funds will be channelled directly to the vulnerable, the elderly and the handicapped during the pandemic.”
Highly emotive and heartfelt messages were given by all of the competing athletes and sports managers at the awards dinner. From an athlete’s perspective, Makhaya Ntini summed up the sentiment when he said:
“This is by far the hardest thing we have ever done. It tested our patience, our pain thresholds and really gave us an opportunity to think about what positive changes we want to make in our lives going forward.”
Fordyce encapsulated the general spirit when he said:
“No one team is a winner tonight, we are all winners and we are humbled to have been given this incredible opportunity to do something positive in such a challenging time.”
Reflecting on the challenge, team leader Erik Vermeulen, who finished with 800km under his belt, said:
“What really hit home having the privilege of interacting with each of the different members in the sporting codes is just how far people can stretch when motivated by a cause bigger than themselves. They find the tenacity and grit way beyond what they thought was possible. I’d like to thank each athlete who accepted this challenge to make a difference. We all have memories to last a lifetime. Thank you. It’s been a most amazing journey with all of you.”
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The final word comes from title sponsor BrightRock.
“BrightRock’s philosophy is to Love Change – in other words, to seek and harness the opportunities that change brings with it. We felt the BrightRock Battle of the Sports provided the perfect platform to do just that: to harness the power of sport to drive positive change and to support our communities and the people at the frontline leading the fight against the virus. It’s given us the opportunity to extend our purpose of helping people navigate change in their lives to the broader community at a time of urgent need.
“We are extremely pleased with the level of awareness, engagement and participation we’ve seen from people of all walks of life. BrightRock also partnered with four amazing celebrity teams, captained by Dan Nicholl, Siv Ngesi, Francois van Coke, and Jason Goliath, who added their voice and their commitment to the cause, and participated in their own #battleofthesports challenges, helping to raise much-needed funds for this important cause.
We thank and applaud all the people who’ve been involved with this campaign – but above all, we salute the courageous athletes, our BrightRock celebrity teams, and all the members of the public who took part in their own #battleofthesports challenges! They’ve made a true difference,” concluded Suzanne Stevens, BrightRock deputy CEO.
