London here we come... Sulette Damons celebrates her goal with teammate Nicolene Terblanche (20) during the 2012 Olympic hockey qualifying tournament's final match against India.
Congratulations are in order for the South African women’s hockey team after they won an international qualifying tournament for 2012 Olympics. The significance of their victory is that there is no longer any doubt about their mettle as the squad prepare to participate in the London Olympics later this year.
Even more remarkable is that the SA ladies earned their right in fine style, hammering tournament host India 5-2 in the final match. The tournament was held in New Delhi, and that the SA team won in front of a hostile crowd bears testimony to their mental resolve apart from their inch-perfect physical conditioning.
The team had already qualified, through the African qualifying tournament. But the Olympic sports organization in South Africa, Sascoc, ordered the ladies to play and qualify through the New Delhi tournament. Sascoc had felt the African competition did not provide strong enough challenge for captain Marsha Marescia and the girls.
Though they sounded harsh, Sascoc’s standpoint was spot on. The SA women’s team is currently ranked 12th, and after the tournament in India, the team now look strong and confident enough to hold their own against the teams above them in the rankings. Some people want to think that Olympics is about the gathering of nations for goodwill and games. But realities of modern times stand inimically to that notion of participation and feel good all around.
The Olympic Games today are the pinnacle of competition for elite sportsmen and women. It is from this perspective that the feat of the SA women in India needs to be appreciated and applauded. According to Marescia (273 caps), the SA team was the most experienced at the winner-takes-all qualifying tournament, with its players collectively overwhelming all other teams with the number of caps earned over the years. Moreover, the team boasts real world class material in players such as scoring world record holder Pietie Coetzee (235 caps), keeper Mariette Rix (135) and Tarryn Bright (187).
Younger players are not doing shabbily either, as was seen with the form of 22-year-old striker Sulette Damons (70) and fellow striker Shelley Russell, 24, with 138 caps. Quality permeates through this squad that even when Coetzee was out injured in India, Damon, Russell and Dirkie Chamberlain kept the scoreboard busy. In terms of raising the flag for women in sport, particularly Olympic sports in this instance, the SA hockey team has raised the number of South African women who have secured their tickets to London.
Both the hockey team and Banyana Banyana, the SA women’s football team, will each send 18 players to the Olympics – a total of 36 women! Other women who have secured their berths so far are marathon runner Rene Kalmer, rowers Lee-Ann Persee and another woman still to be determined between Hayley Arthur and Naydene Smith, and K1 (single person) canoeist Bridgitte Hartley.
More SA women are expected to qualify in swimming and athletics, while Ashley Heldsinger is the only female gymnast still with a chance to make it to London. But it is not enough, given the number of sport codes at the Olympics, including table tennis which, in my opnion, should not present logistical problems in making it available for all in a country like South Africa.
Even disturbing is that many youngsters do not know team sports such as volleyball or handball. The reason is that these fairly easy to manage sports are not available in their communities. My message to Sascoc and its affiliated federations is that bring these sports to the people. These codes don’t require much to safeguard and maintain grounds and equipment.
Tonight the men's national football team Bafana Bafana are playing Senegal in a friendly in Durban. I honestly do not know what to say about the game, save to say: guys, you know what you must do.
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