In the last few weeks we’ve showcased the stunning new range of Olympic and Paralympic kit presented to us by our new clothing sponsors, ERKE, announced Chukuru as the official Team SA mascot, welcomed South African Airways aboard as an official sponsor and also celebrated 100 days to go to the Games in London.

I’m happy to see that Chukuru the mascot has been a busy creature and has been spotted in attendance at many a sporting function in recent times.

This past weekend we had another very successful Presidents’ Council meeting in Johannesburg during which many positive steps were made going forward on the sporting road.

We were happy to have, among others, Professor Vincent Maphai address us on the impact that proposed advertising restrictions in the liquor industry would have an affect the sports industry. Vee Moodley from Phumelela racing made us aware of how to place the opportunity of betting terminals in sports clubs around the country could raise funds for both the sporting codes as well as for the governing bodies.

We were privileged to have the Honourable Minister of Sport Mr Fikile Mbalula talk to us on the second and final day of the Presidents’ Council and it’s extremely heartening to see that we as SASCOC and Sport and Recreation SA are talking from the same page. It’s absolutely essential that we punt the same vigorous path forward to transformation and development of sport in SA in order to unlock the true sporting potential of our nation.

Speaking of government, one of my recent trips saw SASCOC President Gideon Sam and myself attend the XVIII General Assembly of ANOC (that’s Association of National Olympic Committees) and the second World Olympic Sport Convention in Moscow. Honorable Minister Mbalula also attended the World Olympic Sport Convention in Moscow, an initiative to forge a closer working relationship with Sport and Government. It’s very clear that the significant concerns facing global sport are issues which affect the work of NOCs and the development of the Olympic Movement. The role of Governments in debating and resolving these issues is paramount.

Certainly without strong, effective relationships the Olympic Movement cannot work as a force for good to serve global and national sport.

Meanwhile our delivery of Team South Africa for the Olympics and Paralympics continues at pace. Logistically it gets more and more challenging but it’s very exciting to see more and more of our sportsmen and women qualifying for the Games. In particular I must congratulate Gregg Clark’s mens’ hockey side for responding so positively to our qualification criteria. They proved more than equal to the task by winning in Japan and can feel proud to be part of Team SA in London. With the women already having qualified it looks like hockey will make up the bulk of the team to travel to London for the Games.

Hockey was also in the news for the wrong reasons lately and here I’m speaking of Bokkie Week in the North West where a young girl was turned away on the basis of her skin colour. This is totally unacceptable and goes against the grain of everything we’re working towards at SASCOC. At the Presidents’ Council we came out very strongly against this practice as did South African Hockey Association president Mr Dave Carr.

On another sad note we had to mourn three of our sporting family in the space of a day or two earlier this month and our condolences go to the family and friends of Juan van Heerden (cycling), Sibusiso Duma (polo) and Zolani Ntongana (athletics).

Hopefully my next update will bear positive news only.

Our next important date is Monday, 21 May where we will host a 100-days-to-go function in Cape Town for our Paralympic fraternity. It seems just the other day that we were in Simon’s Town harbour celebrating 200 days to go. As I say.. time flies in an Olympic/Paralympic year!

South Africa’s Olympic governing body SASCOC sent out a tender to the top fashion designers around the country for proposals to design the kit. Criteria for the creation of the designs were that the outfits must be proudly South African, for males and females (two separate garments if required), as well as being comfortable.

The nation’s fashion houses responded extremely well to the task and more than 20 designers submitted entries, some of them entering more than one design.

On Tuesday, 8 May a judging panel met in Johannesburg to trim the entries down to a maximum of six designs.

Among the judging panel were Miss South Africa Melinda Bam, retired soccer ace and Team South Africa Ambassador, Lucas Radebe, former athlete and also a Team SA ambassador Geraldine Pillay, television personalities Robert Marawa and Carol Tshabalala as well as fashion expert Grant Blackbeard. Also having their input from the current crop of sports stars were 2008 Olympian and 2012 Olympic Games qualifier Rene Kalmer (marathon) and wheelchair tennis player Lucas Sithole.

The following six outfit proposals were chosen from those submitted:

Colleen Eitzen
Craig Native
Gert Johan
Gina@Work
JJ Schoeman
Leigh Schubert

Each and every South African is now invited to have their say to choose a Proudly SA outfit to be worn at the opening ceremonies in London.

The public will shortly be able to vote on-line through the YOU, Drum, Huisgenoot, SuperSport and SABC websites. They will be able to vote through the medium of SMS lines until 18 May 2012 and the winning design will be then be announced on 21 May at the Paralympic Games 100-day countdown in Cape Town.

The opening ceremony of the Olympics and Paralympics are spectacular occasions, watched by billions of people around the globe and South Africa will be hoping to wow the world with their Proudly South Africa fashion statement.

The country’s Olympic governing body, under President Gideon Sam, remains as dedicated as ever to driving sport as a medium of change in the country. And adding impressive weight to SASCOC’s bid to up sport’s game was Sports Minister Mr Fikile Mbalula who addressed the country’s some 80 National Federations on Sunday.

SASCOC are as keen as ever to work hand in hand with SRSA (Sports and Recreation South Africa) to transform sport from top to bottom in South Africa.

After last year’s ground-breaking Sports Indaba in Midrand, and the implementation of the National Sports Plan the Minister elaborated on the recent formation of The Eminent Persons Group to be responsible for advising him on the broad topic of transformation.

“Our next step is to discuss the detail of the terms of reference with SASCOC and all federations and sporting bodies. The terms of reference of this Eminent Persons Group will be unveiled after we have discussed all pertinent issues at a workshop with SASCOC,” said Mbalula.

“Given the uniqueness of sports bodies .. there must be a joint workshop with full participation and involvement of all sporting codes and federations and it must be a case of collective ownership,” said the Minister.

After the Minister’s address President Sam raised the question of the increasing issue of individual “mavericks” with their own agendas undermining the sports movement’s programmes and structures and asked whether they could rely on legislation to strengthen their defence.

Answering this poser the Minister said: “If we were to think of legislation then maybe SASCOC must come up with it and then we at SRSA would look at it… at all times we just need to be invited and over time the sports bodies and SASCOC have been very clear on theses issues. I agree that if, to deal with the problem and lay the matter to rest, legislation is critical and we can collaborate on this matter.”

As always there was the matter of funding to help sports move forward and the Minister gave his re-assurances. “When the Natonal Sports Plan is integrated it will involve funding. That will all happen but to start off there are certain things that don’t need money. Start with an idea, that idea develops into practice and then the last leg will be the funding. We can’t just fund something that hasn’t been tested but the government will come to the party to address funding.”

On the approaching London Olympics, the Minister’s trademark humour was, as always, most evident. “One thing that we have got right as a sports movement was in not making it too easy to qualify for these Olympics. This is not a joy ride. We’re not going to London to watch Father Christmas!”

Said Sam: “Everything that we have spoken to regarding funding and sport here this weekend is in line with the Minister’s way of thinking.”

Sam also spoke of the Coaches Framework mobilising to go around the country. On 1 June we will begin with a roadshow in all the provinces to explain and set things up. We’re moving towards our own national coaching conference towards the end of the year and we’re looking at more than 1000 coaches coming to the conference. It will be massive and show that the sports movement is a force to be reckoned with.”

The final session of the Council saw members clad in the green T-shirts that SASCOC are promoting and urging the public to wear on Fridays as a means to boost the Team South Africa brand ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics.

On the subject of extra funding, the meeting was also addressed by horse racing organisation, Phumelela’s betting executive Vee Moodley. He was punting the idea of introducing betting terminals to various sports clubs and organisations.

“The plan is to install our terminals in, for example, a sports club,” said Moodley. “You can then sell our sports betting products and make a commission on the turnover. We are proposing the sports club would get 15% of the monthly turnover and we would give a further 3% to that sports governing body. It’s a non-risk profit to the sports movement and we would assist with all agreement/licencing matters as well as training staff. It’s a win-win situation for both parties.”

The bottom line to emerge from Sunday’s meeting: President Sam and Minister Mbalula are punting the same vigorous path forward to transformation and development of sport in SA in order to unlock the true sporting potential of South Africa.

Sam was speaking at the country’s Olympic governing body’s two-day President’s Council meeting at a Kempton Park Hotel this weeekend.

“I think as SASCOC we are doing OK… we don’t have too much but we’re OK. Certainly we’re on a better footing than before Beijing. This time around we can proudly stand up and say that we have tried our best.

“Now it is up to our athletes to bring back those medals while our National Federations tick the various boxes and ask ourselves if we have moved sport forward in the last period.”

Sam says that our sports codes need to be strategic. “I was watching our men’s hockey team qualify for the Games in Japan last weekend and I firmly think we need to be strategic. Maybe South Africa Hockey needs to sit down with us and work out whether it’s worth our while to put as many of the team into the Dutch Leagues etc .. my opinion is that they are not playing enough together. An example is that we had our baseball men representing South Africa at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 but I ask myself now: ‘Where’s baseball these days? We need to be sport specific .. and we can’t leave it all up to the federations.”

Sam also went on to once again harp on the fact that sponsorship funding is dwindling rapidly. “You all want money but it’s just not there. We’re not honest to ourselves in the sports industry. There are too many individuals just doing their own thing and if it carries on like that the sponsors are going to move away and that’s even from the big federations.

“As a sports movement we have to be able to put money on the table and resource our own efforts.”

“One good thing is that we’re still in the good books with the Olympic Solidarity movement, largely due to the hard work of our International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board Member, Dr Sam Ramsamy. There is lots of money there but obviously they want professional programmes so I say to the National Federations, check what is available.”

Sam also thanked Deputy Sports Minister Mr Gert Oosthuizen and Sports and Recreation South Africa. “SRSA have come to the party in a big way and are going out of their way to help the national federations.”

On the matter of funding, Sam also warned of over-reliance on LOTTO funding. “There was a time when we had R960-million available to us but we are now sitting on just R340-million.. that party is over – gone, goodbye. Don’t make a commitment to big events and expect to rely on LOTTO funding. I have warned the federations for the last three years and the federations are going to have be smart, very smart in their applications for funding.”

And Sam also suggested the way to go. “Of the available LOTTO funding, 50% is earmarked for rural upgrading so I’m urging: ‘follow the money and go to the rural areas if you want funding.’

Oosthuizen had earlier addressed the meeting on a number of topics and promised continued Government support for the sports movement. “We at SRSA have put our money where our mouth is. We studied previous Olympic Games reports by project managers and listed to our cash-strapped athletes.

“Government has re-prioritised funds to athletes who have qualified according to SASCOC criteria. “We have ring-fenced R1-million to the national women’s soccer side and a further R1-million to the women’s hockey side in order to inspire others to qualify.

“Then, over and above our normal sports grant, SRSA have allocated R26-million. I know that back in 2009 President Sam promised 12 medals in 2012 but I hope your energy is still left for 2016. I look forward to bolder statements. Our kids need new role models and sporting ambassadors, let no talent go unnoticed.”

Speaking of the 2012 School Sports Plan launch, Oosthuizen said a nationwide audit of schools is currently underway “to plan and resource schools so that we can unearth all available sports talent out there. At the moment we have 7000 schools registered and by the end of the year we intend that to be 10,000, then next year 20,000 and hopefully all 27,000 schools in the plan’s third year.”

Oosthuizen also commented on the controversial Bokkie Week which recently saw a child turned away from a hockey trials event in North West Province purely on the basis of her skin colour. “The Bokkie Week is despicable and unacceptable and is out like apartheid. The sports movement need to be seen as putting the right message across consistently … in  the spirit of Ubuntu we must address and rescue our children from events like this.”

SA Hockey Association president Dave Carr also spoke out against the event: “The South African Hockey Association has taken a firm decision to condemn the actions taken by the organisers of ‘Bokkie week’. SA Hockey has at all times been an organisation that upholds the constitution of our country as the supreme law of our land and because of this we cannot begin to endorse any sentiment that wishes to exclude open participation in hockey.

“As the custodians of hockey in our country, as identified by SASCOC, the South African government and the International Hockey Federation, ‘Bokkie Week’ is not an event that is organised by anyone affiliated to us or any of our members. In light of this we will continue to distance ourselves from this event, the actions of its organisers and continue to openly condemn their actions.”

Also on Saturday a task team from SASCOC presented draft selection policy recommendations for the period 2013 to 2016 to the President’s Council.

Chaired by SASCOC General Manager (High Performance) Ms Ezera Tshabangu, and presented by Bowls South Africa president Debra Ferguson, the eight-strong team formulated the generic policy, which will allow debate between National Federations and SASCOC, and will apply to the following multi-coded sporting events: the 2013 World Games in Cali, Colombia; the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, the 2014 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi, Russia, the 2015 All Africa Games in Congo (Brazzaville) and the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The recommendation, now still in its infant stages, will be reworked over the next few months and is expected to be approved at the SASCOC annual meeting in August.

Said Ferguson: “The panel agreed that the 2009-2012 policy has by and large worked – by taking less people we seem to have won more medals but we have to have everyone on the same page when it comes to selection. We are here to create elite athletes and come back from events with medals… high-performance should be the ultimate goal when it comes to selection.”

The board also heard an address from the liquor industry’s Dr Vincent Maphai (South African Breweries) on the proposed alcohol marketing restriction – it’s impact and implications, especially for the sports movement.

“The liquor industry fully support government in their fight against alcohol abuse and we must pull together like our fight against HIV (Aids) and represent the liquor industry as a whole. The industry is genuinely concerned but we cannot drive it underground. Of the liquor industry’s sponsorship 79% goes on sports sponsorship. If these restrictions are imposed and we withdraw completely from sports and events marketing the knock-on effect on advertising, sports, events and music will lead to job losses and merely fuel the illicit industry. Alcohol prohibition is ineffective .. target the abusers .. don’t punish everyone. Drug abuse is on rise .. but I don’t see any adverts promoting marijuana?

“Our message is simple: target drunken driving, under-age drinking and foetal alcohol syndrome. We need to create diversion and in my opinion the best form of diversion is the use of sport and sports ambassadors against alcohol abuse!”

Former SA Football Association chief and legal wizard, Mr Raymond Hack also addressed the meeting on the question of viable structures going forward and warned of the wasting of valuable funds through legal recourse.

“Any sports federation who has a problem and then takes it to court, who do they go to court against? SASCOC. And although nine times out of 10 SASCOC wins, I can’t begin to tell you the amount of money that has been wasted – it could have made a huge difference in the development of sport. And what often happens is that most times the federation’s membership don’t even know about the federation going to court… all the membership want is facilities and to be able to play their chosen sport.

“And in terms of attracting funding, the name of your sport must be clean… if people are speaking badly about you no commercial body will speak to you, you won’t get any support, no matter how small or big you are.”

Of just as much interest are the comments following this qualification. There are those who feel that we are unnecessarily harsh with our qualification criteria, but there also those who feel that it has helped the athletes and teams tremendously to set their own goals for the Olympics.

The debate will now rage on as it always has and always will, but from a SASCOC perspective we are happy for all the athletes and teams that have made the mark. It is now up to the federations to design their own competitions for the next quadrennial in such a way that it is aligned to the criteria that will be set for Rio 2016.

We cannot look backwards now. We must look for ways and means to raise the bar for our athletes to strive for. The criteria for the next quadrennial will be discussed at the Presidents’ Council set down for this weeked in Johannesburg. We should leave this Council meeting with clear ideas of where we want to be in the next four to eight years as far as our athletes’ performances are concerned.

Of course the athletes need coaches and the Coaching Framework process has made tremendous strides since the launch. The team is ready now to go on a road show to help the provinces set up their own Coaching Commissions. The first three provinces will be KwaZulu-Natal; Eastern Cape and Gauteng and stakeholders across these provinces will be involved in these road shows.

We want to go to the next coaching congress towards the end of the year with fresh ideas that we would have picked up on these road shows. In this regard I can mention that the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) and the South African Football Coaches’ Association (SAFCA) are two structures that will work with us on this project.

It is in our interest to have such structures on board because we need to get school sport up and running as without coaches on the ground, we will struggle to develop sport at the lower end of the spectrum.

The IOC Sport and Environment Commission met in Laussanne recently and the role that sport must play in preserving the environment was again high on the agenda. There is some urgency in this matter and NOC are working hard to sensitise their federations to take up this matter in all seriousness now with Rio +20 coming up in June. Our Commission here in South Africa has set three key dates to deal with some of these environmental issues.

These dates are: World Environment Day (5 June); National Arbor Week (1-7 September) and World Habitat Day (4 October). All are key events that will be driven by the SASCOC Sport and Environment Commission.

In line with tradition, the flame was lit, following the time-honoured ritual of using the sun’s rays and a parabolic mirror, by a High Priestess – Ino Menegaki – at the Temple of Hera in Ancient Olympia. The priestess then entered the Ancient Olympic Stadium, in a procession choreographed by Artemis Ignatiou, and used the flame to ignite the torch of the first runner of the Relay, Spyros Gianniotis.

A British-born Greek open water swimming world champion and three-time Olympian, Gianniotis then transferred the flame to Alex Loukos, one of London 2012′s young ambassadors in Singapore in 2005, who has Greek heritage and lives in the London borough of Newham.

The Olympic flame will now begin an eight-day journey across Greece, travelling to the island of Crete before going to Piraeus, Thessalonica, Xanthi and Larissa among other areas before arriving in the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, on 17 May for the official Olympic Flame Handover Ceremony.

The Olympic flame will then be flown by plane to RNAS Culdrose in Great Britain on 18 May before the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay – presented by Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung – gets underway at Land’s End on 19 May. The flame will visit more than 1,000 villages, towns and cities in the UK during its journey, covering some 8,000 miles over 70 days, as it is carried by 8,000 inspirational torchbearers.

The flame will end its journey at the Olympic Stadium on 27 July for the lighting of the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony, signifying the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

In the presence of the President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Mr Spyros Capralos;  the Chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, Sebastian Coe; the Mayor of Ancient Olympia, Efthymios Kotzas; and the Chairman of the HOC’s Olympic Torch Relay Commission, Spyros Zannias, IOC President Jacques Rogge said in his speech: “With this ceremony, we begin the final countdown to a dream that came to life seven years ago in Singapore, when London was selected to host the 2012 Games. The energy that passes from the sun to the Olympic flame will light a torch that will travel from this birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games to the country that invented modern sport and the spirit of fair play, heralding the opening of the 2012 London Games on 27 July.

“As the Olympic torch travels the width and breadth of the United Kingdom on its way to the Olympic Stadium in London, its powerful symbolism and the inspiring stories of many of the torchbearers will touch hearts and fire imaginations around the world,” Rogge added.

In recognition of the Olympic values of friendship, excellence and respect, the United Nations has approved a resolution calling on nations to build a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal. The resolution is the modern version of the ancient Olympic Truce – the Ekecheiria – that allowed safe passage to the Games by competitors and spectators. The Olympic Torch Relay that started at Olympia for the London 2012 Olympic Games will allow the people of the world to be inspired by this message of peace and unity.

South Africa sealed their spot at the Games courtesy of a 2-1 win over the host nation Japan at the final Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Kakamigahara on Sunday morning.

Second half goals by Thornton McDade and Lloyd Norris-Jones sealed South Africa’s spot and they will now join the South African women’s side in London. The women booked their spot when they beat India 3-1 in their Olympic qualifying tournament in New Delhi, India in March.

“That sure was nerve-racking,” said SASCOC President Gideon Sam after watching the match. “It was a great win for the boys and it’s great to have them joining us in London later this year. We set down tough qualifying conditions for them but they have now fully justified their spot on Team South Africa.

“I must say that SAHA President, Mr Dave Carr, backed both his men’s and women’s teams and that’s why SA Hockey agreed to the criteria. It brought the best out of both the teams and that’s encouraging. Hopefully more of the National Federation presidents will see the setting of qualifying criteria in a more positive light now.”

Both the men’s and women’s side won their continental qualifying tournaments but were required to fulfil further obligations to seal their place.

Said SASCOC CEO Tubby Reddy. “We were criticised for laying down these additional criteria but I think the fact that both our sides have risen to the task and qualified now justifies our decision.

“There’s no doubting that the two sides are worthy additions to Team South Africa in London and hopefully they will go on to even greater things now.”

A few of the highlights have been the way our men’s hockey team started their quest in Japan to get that final slot for the Olympics. We have every faith that they have what it takes to win their final and join Team South Africa in London later this year. They certainly played like men possessed and that is a great sign of a team that wants to achieve.

We look forward to welcoming them home from this mission.

There have also been a good few sporting meetings around the country and continent of late which is great because it gives our athletes enough time to sharpen themselves and do whatever is necessary to convince the selectors to select them for London. The criteria remain intact and all the athletes who have qualified and those who are still qualifying must remember that achieving qualification does not mean simply resting on one’s laurels and saying that it’s mission accomplished.

There lies more hard work ahead and this will only stop when the Games are over.

The recent national swimming championships in Durban once again showed that our athletes for the Paralympics Games mean business. There were some great performances – Kevin Paul set a world record and Charl Bouwer and Natalie du Toit both swam qualifying times in no less than six events! – this a clear indication that our athletes for the Games are in great shape and we can expect good performances from them. In the able-bodied champs, 12 of our swimmers achieved A Standard times which is also hugely encouraging and I continue to marvel at Chad le Clos. To swim A qualifying times in four events is just something else.

Then it was great to see our BMX ace Sifiso Nhlapo back in the country and winning the national BMX championships in Pietermaritzburg. With all the injuries he has had over the last few years it’s still a big struggle for him to qualify but I’m happy to see that he is giving himself every chance at qualifying for the Games.

And I have to say that I am hugely excited that two of our top amateur boxers, Ayabonga Sonjica and Siphiwe Lusizi have provisionally qualified for the Games. They’re fighting up in Casablanca at the continental qualifying event. By now I’m sure you all know that boxing is a sport very close to my heart and I’m happy that after all the attention we’ve given to our boxers in the last few years we’re starting to see dividends now. These two guys got to the semi-finals and hopefully can go all the way at this tournament.

Then away from the fray, we continue to engage SRSA on issues that we need to finalise.

Just some of these are: Service Level Agreements (SLA) as a direct outflow of last year’s Sport Indaba held in Midrand. Our Sports Minister, Fikile Mbalula, will in his budget vote speech, give indications of where this process is and what the country should expect.

There is also the longstanding cricketing matter that will hopefully draw to some conclusion very soon. Meetings are currently being held between the Minister and Cricket South Africa to wrap up this issue.

The critical matter of transformation in our sport is also being addressed and an Eminent Persons Group will be announced by the Minister to oversee transformation in sport.

So as you can see, we’re going through some very exciting times in our wide world of sport and the public will soon see the fruits of all this behind-the-scenes work.

Unfortunately it’s not all good news though and I continue to shake my head as it seems that week after week we are mourning the loss of yet another of our sporting family.

Early this week I heard about the tragic death of Norwegian swimmer Dale Oen, who would have been our own Cameron van der Burgh’s biggest rival in the breaststroke events in London later this year.

Then I heard about our own three stars, Zolani Ntongana (road running), Ruan van Heerden (cycling) and Sibusiso Duma (polo) having passed on. Any death is a tragedy but when one hears of such talent being lost, and at such an early age (Zolani was the oldest at 31), it is particularly heartsore.

I cannot remember a year where we have to mourn for so many of our sports fraternity and can only hope that it gets better as the year goes on.

Athlete Zolani Ntongana, road cyclist Juan van Heerden and polo player Sibusiso Duma all lost their lives this week.

Born in Ngqamakwe in the Eastern Cape, Ntongana, 32, died in Cape Town after being hit by a motor vehicle while Van Heerden died tragically at his home in Gauteng. Duma died in a stabbing incident near Lidgetton, KwaZulu-Natal.

Ntongana finished third in the South African marathon championships in George earlier this year and represented South Africa at both the World half-marathon championships (2010) and the World Cross-Country Championships (2009).

Phalaborwa born Van Heerden, 25, was runner-up in the Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour in 2005 and ended 10th in the final stage of the world renowned Tour of Britain in 2008. A former winner of the Tour of Mauritius, he represented South Africa at numerous international events, including the Junior World Championships in 2004 as well as the Under-23 Cup of Nations in Europe, 2007.

Duma, 25, was South Africa’s first development polo player to achieve success at international level and was due to play in England later this year, a step which would have furthered his career immensely.

“This is indeed a treble tragedy for the South African sports family,” said SASCOC Chief Executive Officer Mr Tubby Reddy on Thursday. “The loss of just one sportsman or woman is bad enough… to lose three of our athletes in the space of a few days is a body blow.

“Our thoughts and condolences go out to their families and loved ones and to the sporting codes they leave emptier by their absence.”

Pillay, 34, joins the original five ambassadors who were unveiled at the 100-days-to-go function in Johannesburg in April.

A sprinter during her competitive years, Cape Town-born Pillay won a silver medal in the 100-metre event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia and was also part of Team South Africa at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Pillay is the second woman to be named as a Team South Africa ambassador and joins Cynthia Tshaka, one of the first Laureus Ambassadors in South Africa as well as the founder of the Sports Hero’s walk against HIV/Aids.

The other ambassadors are Springbok rugby sevens star Cecil Africa, former Bafana Bafana captain Lucas Radebe, former Major golf champion Ernie Els and retired international cricket ace Makhaya Ntini.

“The role of our Team SA Ambassadors is to inspire and mentor the Team SA athletes competing at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, while also encouraging young and old people worldwide to become more active in sport”, said SASCOC Chief Executive Officer Mr Tubby Reddy.

“It’s great to welcome Geraldine on board as an ambassador and to have her adding some more feminine input to the sporting cause.”