THE BEST OF THE BEST AMONG SEYCHELLES’S ATHLETES CROWNED AT THE SMB HALL LAST SATURDAY

THE BEST OF THE BEST AMONG SEYCHELLES’S ATHLETES CROWNED AT THE SMB HALL LAST SATURDAY

Thelermont and Cupidon are he Sportspersons fo the Year.

The crowning of the best of the best among our athletes was done last Saturday, 27th January 2007, at SMB Hall, Roche Caiman. President Michel assisted in the presentation of the awards. Janet Thelermont walked away for the second consecutive year with the Sports Woman of the year, 2006, title. Georgie Cupidon managed to wrestle the Sports Man of the year award from the grip of Allan Julie who finished fifth in the men’s category.

Thelermont has now won the title (Sports Woman) a record third time making her the undisputed Queen of Seychelles athletics. Georgie Cupidon has become the only male badminton player to ever win the Sports Man of the year award. Apart from trophies, the two athletes were rewarded with a cheque of R15, 000 each and a return ticket to a European Destination of their choice served by local carrier, Air Seychelles.

Other winners from the women’s section were, Céline Laporte, runner-up, Juliette Ah-Wan took third place, the Sports Woman of 2003, Shrone Austin grabbed a respectable fourth place ahead of Clementina Agricole in fifth position, Clementina is a former Young Female Athlete in 2004.

Charles Simeon clinched the runner-up position in the men’s section ahead of canoeist Tony Lespoir in third spot. Football player from Red Star and Seychelles striker Wilnes Brutus took fourth position and five-time former Sports Man of the year Allan Julie could only managed fifth place this time around.

It is good to reward our top athletes at the end of every year. It is a sign that we appreciate the hard work and sacrifices they have put in over the last twelve months. However, a closer look at the overall situation of sports in the country gives a very different picture of the glitzy image presented last Saturday at the SMB Hall. Things are not looking good for Federations without personalities with influence at the head. Firstly, these Federations are badly financed and it is becoming impossible to raise funds in the private sector. This is due to the hardship most businesses have been going through in recent years.

Political people in the government should not be using the ‘Sports Award of the Year’ ceremony, as a showcase to demonstrate their “sois-disant” commitment to sports in the country. Whereas for a whole twelve months the Government they represent has neglected a number of Federations. The situation of Lawn Tennis in Seychelles is getting particularly bad. Lawn Tennis is not included in the next Indian Ocean Games, to be held in Madagascar. This is now so, because the standard of Lawn Tennis in Seychelles is found to be lower than the required level for the IOG. This is a sad episode for Lawn Tennis in Seychelles as it is the preferred sport of former first-lady, Mrs Sarah Rene. We hope that it is not out of spite that certain people in this Administration are neglecting Lawn Tennis.

During 2007, Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly will conduct a review on all the Federations in the country. We will bring you an up-to-date report on achievements and on current situation and the aspiration of the persons sitting as executives at the head of these Federations. We will also talk to individual sports men and women in an effort to bring you, our readers, a true picture of sports in the country. Our congratulations go out to all the winners for 2006. To all the others we say, “Persevere”, your day will come, good luck!