UNION AFRICAINE DE GYMNASTIQUE
2012
A
FRICAN
C
HAMPIONSHIPS IN
S
OUTH
A
FRICA
The 11
th
African Championships in RG/TRA/AER, juniors and seniors, are scheduled for December
8 14 in Pretoria, South Africa. As usual, the South African Gymnastics Federation (SAGF) is
primed and ready to bring a beautiful close to the quadrennial UAG calendar. One of the main
attractions of these championships is the premiere participation of gymnasts from Senegal, Congo
and Mozambique in Aerobic. The opening up of this disciplines toward new federations will be a
highpoint of these championships with a tight and uncertain battle looming between the most
experienced Algerian, South African and Namibian gymnasts on the international scene, to name a
few.
The Organising Committee is already working on staff and organisation for these Championships,
and have requested and obtained the collaboration of FIG and national federation judges.
Without a doubt, Pretoria will do a fantastic job welcoming teams and gymnasts from all over
Africa, just as they did at the 8
th
edition of the African Championships in Cape Town in 2006. It is
an honour and privilege for Pretoria to host the World Gym for Life Challenge in July 2013, which is
sure to go above and beyond the hopes and expectations of the thousands of people participating
in this international gymnastic meet.
TO CONCLUDE
With the close of this cycle, we have seen the rising of new poles of development and new
federations. The national federations in place strive to meet the needs of both their youth and
the justifiable objectives of public figures in order to have the broadest possible representation
at official competitions. New disciplines are making themselves seen, demanding the respect of
one and all with their wide demographic and age span. Resolving an issue with so many
variables is not always an easy task; we must understand the stumbling blocks of a specific
terrain to foster development on the one hand, and the necessity of good results to achieve
performance progress on the other.
The harnessing of existing means, based on an educational concept for coaches and sport
leaders and an increased and consistent number of academy courses for coaches and
gymnasts of all disciplines, can provide a strong and progressive footing that would allow the
greatest number possible to benefit equally from FIG technical and material assistance.
Our continent is not exempt from the current global economic unrest; quite the contrary. It is
crucial that we invest first and foremost in our human resources by providing them with a solid
educational foundation, multiplying the governmental awareness efforts that will draw greater
attention to our disciplines and attract even more athletes, male and female, young and old.
With two decades under our belt, the African Union has done its best to hone the requirements
of our disciplines; no small feat in light of the specificities and particularities of our continent. A
look at our landscape now shows that the difference that once separated Africa from other
continents is slowly being erased: a steady increase in participants at the local level, the
number of gymnasts participating in official competitions, the quality of FIG experts and
brevetted judges in the different disciplines, the new halls and training centres acquired as a
result of the efforts of local and national authorities, and the growing number of federations
participating in FIG courses and workshops.
This report is by no means exhaustive, and yet we can confirm that Africa fully adheres to the
FIG development and education policy, as well as to the official competition programme, which
offers innumerable opportunities for gymnasts, judges and coaches to evolve and establish our
disciplines well within global sports. We maintain our ground, and persevere to conquer other
sectors in modern society through the disciplines available to us and the artistic beauty and
virtuosity inherent to gymnastics.
We take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the FIG for the attention and assistance
given us by its leaders at every level. Thank you for setting up the FIG Education and
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UNION AFRICAINE DE GYMNASTIQUE