Chess club breaks 18-year stalemate Face off Climber Joe Mohle on cliffs and far horizons Eau de chlorine: Alumnus and SA water polo goalie Matt Kemp 1 contents 1 Forewords by Prof Mike Meadows and John Donald In mind and body – for life 2 Sports briefs 3 Get moving – it matters! Foreword by Professor Mike Meadows, chair of the UCT Sports Council Guest column by health psychologist Dr Helgo Schomer 4 Rowing This has been a monumental year for South Af- vidual. Ultimately, sport at this university is a 5 Sports honours rica. At this time just twelve months ago, many potent tool for transformation, a vehicle for bringing people together. 6 Rugby South Africans remained sceptical – if not openly This transformative role is given signifi- 7 Chess critical – of the prospects of hosting a successful cant impetus by the fact that so many of Squash soccer world cup. Now, just a few months after our sports clubs are involved in outreach 8 Alumnus and SA water polo goalie the event, we are basking in the reflected glory of activities within the local community. These projects take a range of formats, but include Matt Kemp our enormous success – perhaps best illustrated providing coaching to clubs and schools 9 Underwater Club by the headlines in a British newspaper the day from the poorer areas of the city, and ar- 10 Alumnus and ultramarathoner Prof after the final, which read: ‘...AND THE WINNER ranging the use of our facilities for teams or AO Okreglicki in the Italian Alps IS... SOUTH AFRICA (oh, by the way, well done individuals who may have no access of their own. The time and effort expended by our 11 Climbing Spain)’. clubs in utilising their talents in support of 12 Cricket For me, the most important lesson of the 2010 experience was those less advantaged is but one of the ways Karate that sport has an incredible power to harmonise people from to- that UCT sport helps to develop not only our 13 Swimming tally different backgrounds. Walking to the Cape Town Stadium – own students, but also the wider community Water polo as I did for the one match for which I was lucky enough to obtain beyond the campus. Dirt trackers: Lily the labrador puts UCT Sports Council chair Prof Mike Meadows 14 Hockey tickets – I was struck by an overwhelming sense of unity. It was UCT ranks among the elite, and its aca- (Environmental and Geographical Science) through his paces in Newlands Forest above UCT’s Ultimate frisbee a graphic illustration that, as a nation, we can stand (and queue) demic reputation is truly world-class. We main campus. together – as we did in 1994 – and recognise that what brings us need to use the message in the new mission 15 Canoeing together is so much more important than what divides us. to highlight the developmental role of stu- Surfing And so it is with sport here at UCT. This year, Sports Coun- dent-centred sport and, in so doing, achieve Mountain rescue cil launched its new vision and mission, under the banner UCT our goal of being the top tertiary institution 16 Table tennis Sport: In Body and Mind – For Life. Among a large number of in South Africa for sport. The year 2010 ap- Sailing values of sport, we recognise that involvement in sport at this pears to be a pivotal one for the nation as a 17 Fencing university – whether as participant, high-performance athlete, whole. Only time will tell if this will hold true Sports Injuries Clinic administrator or official – can help to develop the whole indi- for sport on our campus. Soccer for the blind Cover picture: UCT climber Joe Mohle on Horror Crack, part of the From recreation to top-flight honours Oceans of Fear route in the Winterhoek Range opened by UCT alumnus and climber Andy de Klerk. Picture by Alastair Lee. Editor Message from John Donald, manager of Sport and Recreation Helen Théron www.posingproductions.com Writers Province leagues and at national student Morgan Morris UCT has a real commitment to sport, as is evi- Chris McEvoy denced by the 40 clubs registered with the tournaments, and each year the university Daniella Pollock produces a number of sportspeople who Myolisi Gophe Sports Council; and we estimate that through achieve the highest honour: representing David Capel the provincial affiliation of these clubs and their their country. 2010 is no exception, as is re- Photographs extensive intramural offerings, 50% of our stu- flected in this edition ofCampus Sport. Katherine Traut But it’s not all about top-flight honours. Morgan Morris dents are actively involved in some form of sport Sport and Recreation provides for all levels Art & design or physical recreation. of competition, from purely recreational [email protected] This is good news. The uniqueness of sport and recreation at through to high-performance sport. We also 1 Campus Sport is produced by the University of Cape Town’s Communication UCT finds expression in the role of student leaders in the clubs endorse Dr Helgo Schomer’s sentiments in and Marketing Department on behalf of Student Sport & Recreation at UCT. they lead and the broad spectrum of activities on offer. the guest column on pg 3. Lifetime award: John Donald has a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Western Province Sports Council for his longstanding commitment to hockey in the province and beyond. Online information: www.uct.ac.za Enquiries: Tel +27 (21) 650 9111 UCT has a proud record of achievement both in the Western Get out there – and keep moving! [email protected] Donald was at the frontline of the move to unify the sport’s many unions and associations in 2 the Western Cape in the early 1990s. 1 at UCT, what it can do for an institution like New vision and ours, what it can do for the students here, by health psychologist Dr Helgo Schomer (BA, BA [Hons], MA, PhD) and what it can do for the community mission to guide around UCT,” said Professor Mike Mead- ows, chair of the Sports Council. UCT sport More than that, the document sets out to reconcile sport with academia, added new era for sport at UCT was Meadows. ushered in when the UCT Sports “We very often see sport as an add-on, A Council launched its revised vision and I think what this document tries to do and mission on 20 September. is see it as a much more integrated part of The Sports Council’s vision is a bold and the life of a university.” ambitious one: “To be the leading tertiary Heralds: Prof Mike Meadows (left) The words may be new, but not the com- and deputy vice-chancellor Prof Crain institution for student-centred sport by mitments, which have evolved over time, Soudien were pivotal in the launch providing a balanced and broad-based of the new vision and mission of the noted deputy vice-chancellor Professor sports programme that promotes partici- UCT Sports Council. Crain Soudien. He also pointed to what pation and performance excellence and he called “the new space of performance through which students can achieve their catchphrase UCT Sport: In Mind and Body excellence” and the challenge that UCT full potential.” – For Life, also lists the kinds of values that faces to create that space, understanding In turn, its mission recognises that sport can bring to the UCT community. that the demands of sport often clash with Get moving – it matters! through a student-centred approach, sport “What this document really tries to do the demands of the classroom. fosters the development of the ‘whole stu- is inform everyone involved at UCT – and “It’s asking hard questions of where we This is nice. Out of the blue UCT contacts me, inviting me to write for Campus Sport 2010. Why the dent’. The document, headlined by the beyond the university – what sport is about were in the past,” he said. surprise? I took early retirement at the beginning of this year after three decades of teaching and research at UCT. New horizons were calling. Lotto money Yes, I admit I miss you, the students. How brain that benefits instantaneously from be- top, their self-confidence and resilience are could I not? Your ideas, the life, the discus- ing homo ludens, the ‘playing human’, the far more solid, their mental and emotional underpins sports sions, the energy. I loved teaching; I’m a one that moves, sweats and plays sport. development closer to balanced. Those UCT Distinguished Teacher. I had the privi- When my laatlammertjie daughter Enya that play sport with a passion get lost in development lege of bringing sport psychology and then explains to her 12-year-old peers what their full potential to feel human. And it is health psychology to UCT. I couldn’t let this her father does to earn his stay, she quips certainly not the element of winning that is he development initiatives of four long journey of accumulation of knowledge that he counsels CCs: the Confused and at the core of this. It is the experience of be- UCT sports clubs enjoyed a welcome and understanding go to waste. I now ex- Conflicted! Not a bad synopsis. There are ing fully alive, in motion, that does it. Tboost in the shape of a R770 000 port it to a handful of institutions around those, and there are the eating disordered, Do I even have to mention the amazing grant from the National Lottery Distribution the globe, run a consultancy and private the angry, the stressed-out, the mentally power of sport to build a nation’s gees? I Trust Fund (NLDTF).