Rhodes honour top sportsman and woman

Story and Photograph by Stephen Penney, Grocott's Mail 14 October 2008 edition

Marli Vlok and Sandimampita Razafimbola

Rhodes University recently held their Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards over a sumptuous dinner. Sandimampita Razafimbola and Marli Vlok were the winners of the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards respectively and for both it was their second time around.

Razafimbola is part of the basketball club and was selected for the Madagascar senior men's national basketball team for the second year in a row. He also made the Eastern Province senior men's A team and was a bronze medalist at the University Sport South Africa (USSA) and is the head coach at the Rhodes basketball club.

Vlok, who is a member of the Rifle Club, is ranked as the number two senior shotist in South Africa (men and women) and is the number one ranked shotist in the Eastern Province. Vlok also ended with a 98.8% average at the national championships.

“Given these achievements, we at Sports Admin are not unaware of those achievements in which we are still wanting,” said Roger Adams, head of sport at Rhodes University's sports administration. He went on to say that they “need to be aware of the obstacles which prevent some students and clubs from performing optimally and consider how we can respond to these. We need an awareness of what more we can do for the community beyond those initiatives which are already in place.” Adams also highlighted the hockey club's outreach programme which he says made a telling distinction between genuine engagement and mere charity.

The Athletics Club were awarded the Committee of the Year, as well as the Club of the Year trophies. They last won the Club of the Year award in 2004 and 2005. The Basketball Club, under coach Razafimbola, won the Performance of the Year award, attributed to their record of being unbeaten in the Eastern Province league for the past four years and also winning bronze at the SASSU (now USSA) basketball event.

Falling under sports admin for the awards year were 30 different sporting codes, with 2613 registered members, and hundreds more belonging to the internal league. There were 18 external league clubs (15 co-ed) making up 64 teams, while there were five internal leagues with 39 teams. The inter-res was made up of 27 competitions, with 44 residences taking part.

Other winners at the awards dinner were:

Inter-Res winners: Men – Oppidans, Women – Oppidans

Spirit Award – Oppidans

Neilen Locke Coaching Award – Dave Wallace, Archery Club

Roderick B Walker Trophy for Administrator of the Year – Geraldine Simak

Albany Jewellers Trophy for Committee of the Year – Athletics

Prof Chris Whiteley Trophy for Performance of the Year – Men's Basketball

Wilkinson Shield for Most Improved Club – Hockey

Datsun/Nissan Trophy for Club of the Year – Athletics