Olympians Wrestling Club and Judo Institute for People with Special Needs took top honours at the 2017 Jack Cheetham and Letsema Awards.

03 November 2017

Johannesburg, 2 November 2017 – Olympians Wrestling Club and Judo Institute for People with Special Needs, were each awarded first place at the 36^th Jack Cheetham and Letsema Sports Development Awards, hosted by Murray & Roberts in association with SASCOC.

Olympians Wrestling Club were the winners of the Jack Cheetham Award, which recognises sports development projects that transform the lives of able-bodied young South Africans.  The club has a school and community outreach programme that promotes Olympic sports to disadvantaged youth in an effort to counter the effects of gang violence, substance abuse and crime.

The Letsema Award went to the Judo Institute for People with Special Needs. The institute uses judo to instil confidence, self-esteem and discipline into players with disabilities, amongst disadvantaged communities in the Eastern Cape.  The Letsema Award is in recognition of sports development projects for people with disabilities and was inspired by Hilton Langenhoven and his performance at the 2008 Paralympics.

Golden Lions Gymnastics Club was the first runner up in the Jack Cheetham Award.  The club is a community upliftment project for children in the Westbury community in Johannesburg and is consistently among the top performers in international competition despite their lack of funding. The second runner up was the Rock the Boat Canoeing Programme, part of the Grootbos Foundation.  The development programme provides canoeing skills and basic water safety to youngsters from the rural Overberg region in the Western Cape.

The Letsema Award first runner up was Mustang Wheelchair Rugby. The club aims to develop wheelchair rugby as a sport in South Africa to improve the well-being of people living with disabilities.  Beneficiaries include children with physical disabilities from rural areas in the Free State and Northern Cape. The second runner up was South African Transplant Sports Association. The association’s vision is to optimise the quality of life of organ transplant recipients through sport.

“These awards recognise excellence in sports development and are a highlight in the year for Murray & Roberts. We recognise the organisations that are using sport to uplift and develop the youth in their communities and we look forward to seeing their potential develop over the next few years with the additional support the awards provide” concludes Henry Laas, Murray & Roberts Group Chief Executive. 

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