Three local institutions are throwing their weight behind Maties Sport's Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls to ensure that these athletes' road to Rio is a little smoother.
Winelands Radiology, Maties Gymnasium and Campus Health Services (CHS) have all pledged to assist the Maties High Performance unit (HP unit) in various ways.
According to Dr Richard de Villiers, a director of Winelands Radiology, they are honoured to partner with Maties Sport and Stellenbosch University (SU) to offer the athletes the best possible radiology service at the Coetzenburg Imaging Unit, which specialises in the imaging of sports injuries.
Francois Kotze, manager of Maties Gymnasium, added that these athletes have been great ambassadors for their individual sport codes, Maties Sport and SU in general.
"In addition, they consistently perform at the highest level bringing back handfuls of medals from international competitions. Sponsoring gym memberships is the least we can do to show our support and appreciation.
"We believe that by making our facilities available to the athletes, we can contribute significantly to their overall physical conditioning and recovery. This will allow them to focus on their preparation, without the added burden of paying bills or finding extra money for a gymnasium membership."
Dr Pierre Viviers, Senior Director: CHS, said that they are an accredited Collaborative Centre of the International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS) and that they have a proud record of supporting Matie athletes with sports medicine and physiotherapy services for over 40 years.
"Most of these athletes are familiar with the professionals at CHS and therefore it makes perfect sense to continue the support. To acknowledge their achievement as brand ambassadors of SU, CHS want to ensure that their final preparations are without any medical stumbling blocks."
Sean Surmon, head of the HP Unit, explained that the sponsorship is effectively given to a group of athletes that belong to Maties sport clubs and have the potential to qualify (if they have not done so already) for the 2016 Olympic or Paralympic Games.
The possible participants at this stage are: Shaun de Jager, Justine Palframan and Victor Hogan (athletics); Charl du Toit, Anruné Liebenberg, Anika Pretorius, Dyan Buis, Fanie van der Merwe, Ilse Hayes, Arnu Fourie, Reinhardt Hamman and Zanele Situ (Parasport athletics); Hendri Herbst (Parasport swimming), Marie Rabie (triathlon), Mariska Strauss (mountain-biking), Ernst van Dyk (Parasport handcycling (road race and time trial) and Parasport athletics (marathon wheel chair)) and Roxy Burns (Parasport track cycling).
Surmon said he is very grateful for these sponsors' support.
"Two crucial areas of high performance support to athletes in their Olympic/Paralympic year are strength and conditioning and medical support.
"With the help of Maties Gymnasium, CHS and Winelands Radiology our athletes have access to a world-class facility to do their training and recovery as well as immediate and accurate diagnosis in case of injury. Quick diagnosis results in the athlete receiving immediate treatment (physiotherapy services are also sponsored by CHS) and means that we can get the athlete back to the normal training environment as soon as possible so that they can continue their preparation for the big event."
Caption: Celebrating the partnership with Maties Sport and the Maties High Performance Unit are Francois Kotze, manager of Maties Gymnasium, Dr Pierre Viviers, Senior Director: Campus Health Services, Ilhaam Groenewald, Chief Director: Maties Sport, Sean Surmon, Head: Maties HP Unit, and Carene Valentine, radiographer at Winelands Radiology.
