2011 in Review: South African Sport

As the clock rushes its way to the end of 2011 quicker than John Terry to his team mates wives, All Things Jabu is taking this opportunity to look back at the year that has passed. As you know in sport its great to get three in a row, the lure of the hat-trick, and as a result we will have a hat trick of reviews. Having previously looked at what 2011 didn’t do so well for South Africa, it is only fair that today’s review looks at what went right in our beloved country. Tomorrow we will look at the ten best sports matches of 2011 and lastly on Wednesday we will look at who are the ATJ International Sports stars of the year. So kicking off at this point, what went well in South African sport in 2011.

Pietie Coetzee

In 2011 we had the fortunate opportunity to see Giles Bonnet’s South African Womens team play a lot of hockey. With the backing of Investec they have been outstanding and are really pushing for a strong qualification to the Olympics. They have just narrowly missed out in two finals of four nations tournaments in Argentina to the World Champions. So things have been going well for SA Womens Hockey. Of course that is not the highlight of the year, but rather an incredible feat for one player is. Pietie Coetzee in June 2011 took what will hopefully belong to her longer than we will all be able to remember. She took the sole ownership of the International top goalscorer. In the aftermath of the Champions Challenge she has taken her total to 226 goals and with an action packed 2012 ahead for SA Hockey we will all be holding thumbs for her to get to the magic 250 number!

Charl Schwartzel

That night in April 2011 will never be forgotten. I sat glued to the TV into the early hours of the morning watching a truly incredible Masters Sunday. Rory McIlroy was going to win said the commentators the night before and early on it seemed he might do so. His implosion meant there was a gap to be taken. Tiger roared, Adam Scott and Jason Day soared, Geoff Ogilvy even looked dangerous, but it was the South African boytjie took the bull (Not Victor Matfield) by the horns and produced one of the finest displays in the history of Masters with a finishing run never before seen in Masters golf with 4 birdies in the last 4 holes. He has since been solid and has emerged as South Africa’s number 1 prospect at answering the onslaught of the English and Aussie golfers.

The Lions

The Golden Lions are a strange team with stranger supporters. They are at home in the richest part of South Africa, the province that makes more money than any other but have been Shane Warnes Botox short of a complete laughing-stock for the past 10 years. That changed this year. John Mitchell built up a team worthy of each other, with no individual superstars, but rather as a unit. Yes you may point to the likes of Strauss, Taute and Jantjies as stars, but the Lions success was built on work as a unit, not as individuals. I was fortunate to be at the final on the half way line and saw an incredible victory by the Lions (My brothers team) over the Lions (Mrs Jabu’s team). The big test will come in the Super 267 next year when they look to make it count in the longest tournament in World Rugby.

Orlando Pirates

As a Kaizer Chiefs fan I have enjoyed laughing at my Pirate supporting friends for the past decade. But much like the Lions, the Buccaneers decided to set it right this year by not only winning the PSL but taking the Nedbank Cup, Telkom Knockout and the new seasons MTN 8 with it. That’s how you end a drought Arsenal, not with a Carling cup final loss. The Bucs biggest mistake for me was firing Ruud Krol, who himself must be wondering what he had to do to get a new contract as their league form has stuttered in the new season. That being said 4 trophies in one Calendar year is second only to Barcelona and I begrudgingly salute them for that.

Ryan Sandes

I don’t think a year goes by when Ryan doesn’t knock the socks off of supporters. He is getting better and better with each event and has emerged victorious in two huge races this year. Secondly in Nepal, but firstly and obviously the big one for him was the Leadville race. The thing about Ryan is that he doesnt just win. He wins in style. And bearing that in mind Ryan will probably be on the list again next year! ATJ was fortunate enough to chat to him earlier this year and you can read that over here

Hank McGregor

The Kayak king had an incredible year with his honours list reflecting that of a dux pupil. His ultimate win in 2011 was becoming the World Marathon Champ. Coupled with this he won the Unlimited Ozzie Gladwin, the Hansa Fish (SA K2 River Champs), the GT Drak Challenge, the Varsity College Surfski Series, the Inanda Dam to Durban, the Umkomaas Marathon, the SA K1 River Championship, the Windhoek Berg River Marathon and a host of other singles and doubles events. Hank has cleared the water of all those before him and is dominating the sport greater than the dominance of Sebastien Vettel in Formula 1, except here the kayaks are only powered by the muscle not a huge engine. Read more about Hank and his team mates at Team Best 4 Kayak Centre

Chad le Clos

Chad burst onto the scenes last year like I do onto the dance floor when “I’m sexy and I know it” starts playing. But in all seriousness his emergence from last years Commonwealth to being one of South Africa’s premier Olympic medal hopefuls, his rise has been dramatic and enjoyable to watch for all South Africans. We have been a spoilt bunch with our swimmers with Schoeman, Neethling, Ferns, Townsend, du Toit and Gooner Cameron van der Burgh. But I think all of these guys have not quite generated the same excitement as Chad (Okay, Ryk generated more from the ladies, but that is not the excitement I’m talking about!). He won 5 gold medals at the All African games but then secured the big one for the year, he won the Overall World Cup Title. This comes after winning 6 gold medals in Beijing as well as in Dubai in an incredible year for the youngster. 22 titles in the season is incredible and he won by a huge margin over second place! Lets hope the Olympic games continue this run of form.

Vernon Philander

At the start of the Cricket season South Africans were excited. At last Imran Tahir would play test cricket and although Paul Harris did what he had to in the day, we now had a spinner capable of taking wickets and attacking batsmen. After 3 tests though it is not Tahir that everyone is talking about, but rather the surprising rise of Vernon Philander. In his 3 test matches so far he has taken 4 5-fors and gone to 24 wickets in 3 games at an average of about 12. When you speak about South African pace attack we often lament about how Morkel compliments Steyn, but it seems in Philander we at last have a wicket to wicket bowler again. His line and length are fantastic and he plugs away at the off stump consistently. I have thoroughly enjoyed his rise as it was not something I expected at all. I hope he can push on from here and take South Africa to the number one ranking in test cricket.

So those are my South African Sports stars/teams of 2011. What a year we have had, with the bad as well as the good. But when looking at this list you can only get excited about South African sport! Bring on 2012!