Much of Team South Africa’s squad to compete in the 2025 African Youth Games has either arrived in Angola’s capital or was en route as they gathered ahead of the 2025 African Youth Games, writes Mark Lemke in Luanda.
Muggy, overcast and wet conditions with a temperature of 28 deg C welcomed the athletes, who begin the 10-20 December multi-code competition on Wednesday. These are an important Games for athletes from the ages of 13-16. The African Youth Games, attracting the best of the continent’s young talent, doubles as qualifiers for next year’s Youth Olympics in Senegal and they were the starting point for many South African teenagers in their athletic development.
The likes of Alan Hatherly (2014 mountain biking gold), Jo-Ane du Plessis (2014 athletics gold), Prudence Sekgodiso (2018 athletics bronze), Mustapha Cassiem (2018 hockey gold), Tatjana Smith (2014 swimming gold) and Rugby World Cup winners Herschel Jantjies and Grant Williams (2014 rugby sevens gold) all cut their teeth in the African Youth Games and there is much excitement that the 2025 vintage also contains many of the champions of tomorrow.
These are the fourth such Games, and the third in which Team SA will be competing, after previously being staged in Rabat (2010), Gaborone (2014) and Algiers (2018). There are 91 athletes represented across 12 sports – athletics, badminton, beach handball, beach volleyball, cycling, judo, karate, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis and weightlifting.
Photo: Frennie Shivambu
