The Overberg Sports Council’s annual awards took place recently at Houwhoek Inn. Several sporting codes received honours. Bibi Schmidt, with her outstanding achievements in jukskei, was crowned Sportswoman of the Year.
At the SA Jukskei Championships held in Kroonstad from 26 March to 1 April she represented the Overberg Ladies A1 Team and, with her partner in the doubles, took home the gold.
In the team event Schmidt was also the youngest member, yet was the glue that bound the team together. She and her teammates in the A1 side achieved a first for Overberg by winning gold in the A1 section as well as the trophy.
Schmidt was selected to represent the Western Cape, which won their matches against all the other provinces and once again won gold.
Throughout, Schmidt displayed exceptional talent and dependability. Her excellent performance was rewarded by her inclusion in the Women’s SA Team and being awarded her senior SA colours for the first time.
The SA women’s team played their first test match against Namibia, and another outstanding performance from Schmidt helped them to beat Namibia and win gold. In total, she won four gold medals, an exceptional achievement for one as young as her.
The Overberg A1 Jukskei Team was crowned Team of the Year.
Schmidt was part of this team along with Elna van den Berg (captain), Arina Steyn and Carina Botha. After the first five games of the competition the team was lying third. However, with Schmidt’s motivation they soon decided third wasn’t good enough. With determination and extraordinary consistency they achieved first place on the log after eight games. The A1 team demonstrated essential values of teamwork and excellency throughout the tournament to remain in first place.
Another first for Overberg was this team winning gold and the “Unie Winkels” Trophy.