UWC ATHLETICS DEVELOPMENT IS ON TRACK

BY LYNNE RIPPENAAR-MOSES

ONE OF THE KEYS to UWC’s success across all sporting codes has been its ability to identify and recruit the right coaching staff. The impact, for instance, of the late Chester Williams, Peter de Villiers and Paul Treu in taking UWC Rugby to the next level is obvious.

UWC ATHLETICS has been equally blessed with coaching talent. After years of patient investment in sports infrastructure and nurturing student talent, the university is reaping the dividends in individual and team achievements.

LIKE MANY UWC STUDENT ATHLETES, coach Glen Bentley’s family could not afford the running shoes he needed as a young athlete growing up in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg. Bentley says: “Going to university after matric was just a pipe dream as we did not have money. I told myself I would run myself out of poverty, and because of my love for running, I was able to get scholarships to go to university and do that, but also learn different skills as a runner and travel throughout South Africa and internationally.”

AS A GAUTENG PROVINCIAL ATHLETE, he received a bursary to study Sports Management at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). He was mentored at his home club, Pegasus AC, by the Chairman, Joe Morris, who was also the Central Gauteng Athletics Events Coordinator and would take him to every road race in the province.

BENTLEY FOLLOWED HIS MENTOR into sports administration, serving as the National President of Athletics South Africa (ASA) in University Sports South Africa (USSA) from 2006 to 2008. In 2009, Bentley joined UWC as a Sports Administrator but, oddly, not in athletics.

I told myself I would run myself out of poverty, and because of my love for running, I was able to get scholarships And do that.

GLEN BENTLEY

“I actually started with swimming as a sports code because I was the manager of the Aquatics Centre at UWC and the administrator of the Aquatics Club, but I coached athletics at the university on a voluntary basis,” explains Bentley.

In 2016, Bentley was appointed as UWC administrator of athletics. Since then, he has coached top-performing athletes, including Lee-Roy Lawrence, who was a member of the university club and at 17 became his first ASA champion to win a race at altitude. Bentley also coached Anthony Timoteus for five years, who has won several ASA cross-country medals.

SPRINTER LUKE DAVIDS, who won the 100m sprint in 10.15 seconds at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018, is coached by Head Coach Nathan van Wyk.

At the time, Van Wyk said: “His win is a huge boost and has raised the profile of the athletics club at UWC. It is proof that young and junior athletes like Luke can find coaches at UWC who are able to offer them world-class training to realise their dreams.”

ASIDE FROM WINNING MULTIPLE MEDALS at the African Games and South African Championships, Davids, who joined the club at 13 years old, has also contributed to the success of the UWC Athletics Club in various USSA competitions. “The performance of the athletes has been quite good and thus the rebuilding phase we embarked on three years ago for our male athletes is delivering results. For the past three years, we’ve been attempting to build the same setup for our women athletes by creating equal opportunities for male and female athletes,” says Bentley.

3 500 RUNNERS PARTICIPATED IN THE 2020 FAST AND FLAT RACE

BENTLEY HEADHUNTED BULELWA SIMAE, a top veteran female distance runner, specifi cally to build UWC’s capacity in female athletes.

“I was approached to become a technical coach at UWC in order to develop top talent, specifi cally in women at UWC,” explains Simae, who is a two-time winner of the UWC Fast and Flat 10km race.

THE FAST AND FLAT RACE is a key event in the club calendar that was fi rst hosted in 2009, when the race attracted 1000 runners. The event drew almost 3 500 participants in 2020. Simae’s work has already started paying off, with UWC entering a full women’s team for the National Cross Country Championships for the fi rst time.

Simae says: “My wish would be to produce more ladies who will be able to represent our country on the track. My success as a coach must primarily be measured by the value and experience the athletes gain under my guidance.”

THE MASSIVE INVESTMENT UWC has made in upgrading its 30-year-old athletics track in 2021 and developing the Sports Centre now means that UWC can host international and national events, as attested to by its successful hosting of the National University Athletics Championships.

IN KEEPING WITH UWC’S HISTORY of sharing its facilities with local communities, the university recently partnered with Fairmont High School to host an athletics competition with 38 Western Cape high schools at the world-class track to identify the top 15 school athletes that the university will provide with coaching. The coaches at these schools have also been offered performance enhancement training. B+G