What a year of Brakpan sport: February highlights
The year 2017 was a busy one for Brakpan’s sportspeople.
There were ups and there were downs.
This is the 2017 Brakpan year in review.
February
• Brakpan’s United Cricket Club’s Premier XI fell out of the Eastern Cricket Club T20 competition in the quarter-final stage on January 29.
• Brakpan Rugby Club’s star forward from the 2016 campaign and one of South Africa’s top club players, Ian Oosthuizen made a massive impact on the rugby fields of Scotland.
• Oosthuizen, the 2016 South African Rugby Union Gold Cup forward player impressed at the historic Scottish club Selkirk since arriving in the United Kingdom in November 2016 on a six-month international rugby exchange and lit up the BT National 1.
• Training in the grappling style of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) became available in Brakpan. Vastly experienced martial artist and the president of Xtreme Kickboxing Technologies (XKT), Brakpan’s Raymond Phillips (with more than four decades experience in martial arts), partnered with Jurgen Putter of the renowned Rio Grappling Club in Springs to bring BJJ to Brakpan.
• The heavy rains that fell in Brakpan on the night of February 13 arrived with a vengeance and caused major concerns over the future of United Cricket Club’s tenure at Hosking Park. “The water level swept through our clubhouse and ablution facilities at 500mm above ground level, damaging a huge amount of our stock and equipment with an estimated damage of around R35 000,” said Des Gamble, facilities manager at the club. The force of the water pressure was so extreme that the A-Field boundary ropes were found wrapped around a tree at the adjacent Brakpan Rugby Club perimeter wall along Elliot Street. Part of the rugby club’s wall had also come down after the storm.
• Coert Groenewald stole the march on the field in the Race to Q-School #16 to bag his seventh IGT Challenge Tour title at State Mines Country Club on February 15. The 28-year-old from Roodepoort fired a flawless six-under-par 66 to seal a three-shot victory on 13 under 203 over Alrich Labuschagne, Paul Boshoff and leader Gregg Blainey from England.
Also read: Oosthuizen set for Scotland
Coert wins seventh IGT Challenge Tour title
Brazilian steps up for headline fight
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