Photo Credit: KZN Cricket
The annual KwaZulu-Natal Sports Awards were hosted on Saturday 8 October and the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union and its representatives walked away with four prestigious awards on the night.
In one of the biggest awards, KZN Cricket was awarded the Federation of the Year accolade, which is an award allocated to a federation that has performed exceptionally well holistically. KZNCU was also nominated for Innovation of the year due to the positive impact of the Dolphins School of Excellence.
It was then the turn of individuals to take home awards. Firstly, KZN Cricket CEO Heinrich Strydom was awarded the Administrator of the Year award, a deserved award for excellent service to the KZN Cricket Union.
Two of the Hollywoodbets Dolphins Ladies stars and Momentum Proteas players Nondumiso Shangase and Nonkululeko Mlaba were also recognised at the awards. They were awarded the prestigious MEC Black Blazer awards. These are awards that are not nominated and are personally selected by the MEC for Sports, Arts and Culture, Amanda Bani-Mapena.
KZN Cricket had a number of other nominees in the various categories including Shabnim Ismail for Sport Personality of the Year & Sportswoman of the Year, SJ Erwee was nominated in the Newcomer of the year category (at international level), Hollywoodbets all-rounder Andile Simelane was nominated in the Junior Sportsman of the year category and Proteas star Keshav Maharaj was one of the Sportsman of the year nominees.
“For KZN Cricket to win the Federation of the Year award is a fantastic reflection on how much hard work goes on at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium,” president of the KZN Cricket Union Yunus Bobat said.
“The brilliant leadership and the dedicated individuals that are working on a daily basis to keep the union at the forefront of sports governance deserve the recognition that they have received with this award.
“The executive and administrators at KZN Cricket must be commended too for their involvement and input in keeping KZN Cricket moving forward.”
Bobat continued in praising the work Strydom has done as the CEO.
“Since Mr Strydom’s arrival at the KZN Cricket Union we have seen a number of exciting and innovative changes in Durban,” he continued. “We are proud to have someone with Mr Strydom’s vision at the helm of the business and we hope that it continues to grow from strength to strength.
“To have our two young Momentum Proteas players Nondumiso and Nonkululeko recognised with the MEC’s Black Blazer Awards is another testament to the hard work and dedication they have shown.
“They have come through the Hubs Development Programme and are truly an example to young female cricketers in the province.”
Name of Author: Dolphins Cricket
The Hollywoodbets Dolphins represent KwaZulu-Natal (Coastal) in South Africa. They compete in the CSA 4-Day Series, Momentum One-Day Cup, and Mzansi Super League T20. Their home venues are Kingsmead Cricket Ground in Durban and Pietermaritzburg Oval in Pietermaritzburg.
