The University of Johannesburg (UJ) received their fair share of bragging rights at the recent Gauteng Sport Awards when they were the biggest winners of the night. UJFM 95.4’s The Sport Network with Andrew Hope scooped the Sport Programme of the Year – beating Metro FM’s 083 Sports@6 with Robert Marawa and SABC’s Sport @ 10, hosted by Thomas Mlambo.
The Awards took place on Friday, 11 July 2014 at the Monte Casino in Fourways, Johannesburg. UJFM 95.4 was the only community radio station nominated in the Awards, competing with national radio and television stations.
UJ won in six categories, including the coveted Sportswoman of the Year and Sportsman of the Year titles awarded to Hockey players Pietie Coetzee and Clinton Panther, respectively.
Notably, UJ also scooped the Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability and Sportsman of the Year with a Disability, when Kgothatso Montjane and Lucas Sithole were announced the winners. Sithole became the first African to win a US Open Quad Grand Slam last year in September, beating world number one David Wagner in the finals.
Andrew Hope, who was up against sport journalists from ANN7, Daily Sun and Power FM, was the winner in the category for the Sport Journalist of the Year – making UJ the winner of both the awards for which UJFM was nominated for.
Since its launch, the Gauteng Sport Awards have seen tremendous growth, with the number of nominations submitted having doubled in 2013.
In keeping with the ’20 years of democracy’ theme, which has seen the nation pause to celebrate the dawn of democracy in South Africa through various activities, this year’s Gauteng Sport Awards celebrated the province’s contribution towards building South Africa’s social cohesion through sport.
In the same vein, the Awards also commemorated Gauteng’s 20 years of excellence as the leading sporting province.
Here are the UJ winners of the Gauteng Sports Awards:
· Sports Journalist of the year : Andrew Hope – UJFM (Alumnus)
· Sports Programme of the Year: The Sports Network with Andrew Hope on UJFM
· Sportswoman with a disability : Kgothatso Montjane (student)
· Sports team of the year with a disability – Para rowing coxed four (three students in the team)
· Sportsman of the year with a disability – Lucas Sithole (WTSA)
· Coach of the year – Holger Losch (WTSA)
· Sports women of the year – hockey player Pietie Coetzee (Alumna)
· Sports man of the year – hockey player Clinton Panther (student)