FA C I L I T Y
UPGRADE
HISTORIC VIP ROOM ENHANCED BY UPGRADE BY LYNDON JULIUS
T
HE NEWLY UPGRADED UWC STADIUM, aka the
‘Operation Room’, has hosted many prestigious sports events for more than three decades. As importantly, it had a unique association with non-racial sport and the anti-apartheid struggle. After initially rejecting sport at ‘bush colleges’ in principle, SACOS (South African Council on Sport), the organisation that led the
struggle against apartheid in sport, was persuaded by sportspeople themselves that UWC’s involvement in sport in black communities and its students’ consistent activism placed the institution clearly on the side of non-racialism. Many UWC athletes, administrators and teams were also active in the organisation of non-racial sport, including Brian O’Connell, an extremely talented Western Cape cricketer who later became Vice-Chancellor, and the
stadium became a base for several sports codes after apartheid. The VIP section was built when the stadium was completed in the mid-1980s and it was never upgraded apart from minor touch-ups. Glen Bentley, UWC Sport Administration Support Services Manager, is well pleased with the newly renovated and upgraded VIP and entertainment area. “This has been something that we are all very proud of,” notes Bentley. >
THE OFFICIAL UWC SPORTS MAGAZINE
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