After records tumbled at last month’s Curro Podium Athletics North meeting where the likes of Matodzi Ndou from Curro Hazeldean and Megan Nieman from Die Hoërskool Menlopark became the fastest U18 110m hurdles and U15 90m hurdles athletes in South African history respectively, more action is expected at the Curro Podium South meeting.
Hundreds of track and field athletes representing around 30 schools are set to converge on the Dal Josaphat Stadium in Paarl on Saturday, 19 October to participate in the biggest school athletics meet south of the Vaal River. Among these talented youngsters is the rising javelin star Marine Grobler from Hopefield High School who recently threw an outstanding 55.10m to win the Girls U19 javelin competition at the North vs South Athletics meeting held on 23 September 2024 in Paarl.
17-year-old Grobler will be one of many top junior and sub-youth athletes looking to use the meet to qualify for the 2025 Curro Podium National Finals, where they will face stiff competition from some of the more recognised athletics schools in the country. Curro Sport Portfolio Manager, Cindy van der Merwe says this is precisely what the Curro Podium meets are all about - providing promising young athletes the opportunity to improve by competing at world-class events.
“The word Curro means ‘to run.’ We took that, and our philosophy that every child matters to the next level by creating opportunities for all athletes in South Africa at school level. These opportunities are at a superior level where the competition is tough,” she explained.
“We set ourselves a target that in four or five years these athletes should represent South Africa at the Olympics, but in just a few months we had Bayanda Walaza there. So we are already looking to see the next athletes who will follow in Bayanda’s footsteps,” she added.
Athletes will compete for individual and team honours in 24 track and field events. The winners will join their northern counterparts to compete in the national final in February 2025. Tickets for the Southern meeting are available at Quicket at R40 per person and free of charge for learners in school uniform. The event is from 7:30am to 6pm and will be broadcast via SuperSport Schools and the Curro Sports YouTube
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