The South African Junior Tumbling and Trampoline team arrived at the World Age Group Games in Sofia, Bulgaria; where they competed against forty-one (41) countries, and just under eight hundred gymnasts in the different Tumbling and Trampoline disciplines. The South African team was the only African team that participated in the World Age Group Games 2022. The RSA team was managed by the esteemed head coach Mandy Zoonekynd and supported by Coach Lee Budler and the Mmabana artistic Sport coaches, Coach Lebogang Ramokopelwa, Coach Michael Masangana.
The team’s collective performance was nothing short of impressive compared to the first world gymnasts that they competed against. The Mmabana Tumbling teams training camps and conditioning yielded results that surpassed the expectations of many competitors. The Mmabana athletes rose to the occasion and produced impressive results especially the first-time competitors.
The main competition began on the 23rd of November 2022 and ended on the 26th November 2022. The South African athletes entered the Arena full of confidence and ready to show the rest of the world what they are made of. Below are the competition results and log standings of the MACSF Athletes:
Category | Athlete | Position | Athletes per category |
Boys 11-12yrs | Tshepang Manoto | 7th | 10 Athletes |
Boys 17- 21yrs | Thato Joe | 20th | 36 Athletes |
Boys 17- 21yrs | Michael Masangana jnr | 12th | 36 Athletes |
Girls 13-14yrs | Kganya Mahila | 23rd | 36 Athletes |
Boys 13-14yrs | Vuyisile George | 15th | 23 Athletes |
Boys 13-14yrs | Kobamo Keeameditse | 16th | 23 Athletes |
The Region 5 Under 20 Youth Games is a multi-code sporting event, which was held at the Bingu International Conference Center (BICC) in the capital city Lilongwe in Malawi, on the 4th of December 2022. The competition was filled with excitement and suspense as athletes from five (5) the African Countries competed for gold in the eleven (11) Sporting codes that were competing at the Games.
Preparation for the Youth Games stage was enhanced by the FIG Trampoline World Age Group Competitions were the gymnasts going to Region 5 Youth Games where they competed against gymnasts from 41 countries. There was a concern about fatigue, but the fantastic medical support provided by SASCOC made sure that our gymnasts were performing at their peak in Malawi.
The South African men’s tumbling team was made entirely the of Mmabana tumbling team, Michael Masangana jnr, Kobamo Keameditse, Vuyisile George and Goitsione Khumalo and the girls team was made up of tumblers from across the country. The squad was led by head coach Michael Masangana and Mariette van der Merwe.
The men’s tumbling team won Gold in the men’s team 13-19 years Tumbling Team competition. In the 13-19 years men’s individual competition the Mmabana tumblers attained top marks, Michael Masangana jnr won a gold medal, and Goitisone Khumalo won a silver medal. Mmabana Arts Culture and Sport Foundation is proud of the all the athletes that performed at the Region 5 competition in Malawi. We anticipate filling more spots in the national team in the future competitions.
Mmabana is honoured to end the year on such a positive note, the acting CEO and management would love to wish all our athletes a fantastic festive season. The entity encourages more youth and community members to enrol in the entity’s programme offerings to enhance their creative talent.