POLOKWANE – This was said during the Limpopo Sports Confederation media briefing that was held at Col-John Hotel on Tuesday.
The briefing delivered a report on the status of sport in the province and tabled out strategies which were put in place to improve the level of sport. The province has already lost athletes such as the 2012 Comrades Marathon champion, Ludwick Mamabolo, and the South African sprinter, Caster Semenya, among others.
Muneri emphasised that the province wants to have its own rugby franchise after they noticed most professional rugby players hail from the province and are making it big in the rugby fraternity.
However, the Limpopo Sports Confederation Vice President and the Limpopo Blue Bulls Vice President, Charles van Wyk, was not happy with the declaration of the rugby franchise. Van Wyk said the matter should be kept under wraps because the idea is sensitive and still in progress.
“We cannot talk about the rugby franchise now because there are still a few things that need to be finalised,” he explained.
The debate went on when Muneri continued to talk about the rugby franchise saying the province qualifies to have its own rugby franchise.
The province has successfully hosted the National Provincial Softball Championships recently at the Polokwane Cricket Club with the senior male team achieving gold.
The u/19 boys’ softball team competed in North West during the schools championship and came home with silver medals. In volleyball, the girls’ team won gold last year during the national championships in Gauteng with the boys’ team winning the silver in the same competition. The beach male volleyball senior team won silver at the national championships in Port Elizabeth recently.
The physically disabled athletes contributed towards a number of medals in the province and claimed the third position in the country. These athletes won 26 gold medals, 18 silver medals and seven bronze medals in various championships and the provincial boxing team received one gold medal, three silver medals and eight bronze medals in the recent national championship in Cape Town.
In athletics, Chris Moleya from Zebediela is invited to participate in the international championship in Poland in June or July.
The u/13 boys’ soccer team brought home silver medals with the u/13 girls’ team winning the bronze medal during the national championships. The u/15 boys won silver, the u/17 boys claimed bronze while the Futsal male team won silver medals during the recent national championships.
Muneri thanked Polokwane City FC and Baroka FC for their contribution in the Nedbank Cup. Baroka is the only team from the province which still remains in the competition.
