The Limpopo Provincial Games Team of South Africa has won the first African Nations Cup mounted games championships, held in Gaborone, Botswana on 13-14 January.

This follows another win at Equestria 2006, an indoor equestrian exhibition and extravaganza at the Coca-Cola Dome from 3-10 December which, among other world-class equestrian events, hosted the Inter-Provincial Mounted Games competition.

The Limpopo team’s success augurs well for its goal, as proven best games team in South Africa, to compete in IMGA World Team Championships 2007, to take place in Belgium in July.

The Botswana competition, which was run in blistering temperatures of up to 42ºC, was hosted by the Botswana Mounted Games Association, under the nurturing eye of Canada’s Jim Dunn, IMGA executive officer in charge of country development. IMGA management committee member, Jens Martin, was Chief Referee.

Teams from Canada, Botswana, KZN ( South Africa) and Limpopo ( South Africa) rode in the championship.

The Africa Nations Cup consisted of four sessions, with eight races each. The scores were accumulative over all four sessions and the final results were as follows: 1st Limpopo with 104 points, 2nd Canada with 80 points, 3rd KZN with 66 points and 4th Botswana with 60 points.

"I attribute Limpopo’s win to three main factors: the number of hours practiced, the schooling of the ponies and the ability of the riders to function as a unit (a team)," says team manager, Mandé Siderfin.

"I can proudly say that, in 32 races with over 100 hand-offs, Team Limpopo did not miss a single hand-off.

"This is very rare. I have never heard of a team attending an international competition and making no hand-off faults."

Growing interest in games

Mandé comments: "The Africa Nations Cup is proof positive that things are happening on the mounted games scene in Southern Africa."

Development is ongoing, and the Africa Nations Cup also provided a platform for a Coaches Clinic and Riders Clinic for Botswana.

Invitations to the Africa Nations Cup in Botswana were extended to several southern African countries in addition to South Africa, including Swaziland, Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

"Practical problems prevented them from participating this year. But there is a tremendous interest among them in the sport and I am confident that many of these countries will compete next year."

Mandé will also travel with a team of players to provide a demonstration to the MGA in Namibia early in 2007.

The Limpopo team extends a big thank you to their host, Dallas, who provided accommodation for the team during their stay in Botswana.

The teams and their ponies were:

Limpopo
Megan Frost on Jade Natalie Monsieur on Cloud 9 Annemie de Beer on Cambodia Prince Mataboge on Medunsa Anzac William Mahlangu on Violet Mandé Siderfin (Coach)
Kwa-Zulu Natal
Megan Marr on Top Notch Megan Fick on Cappuccino Katie Harrison on Day II Graeme Day on Schasha Ian Marr (Coach).
Botswana
Leah Sampson on Pegasus John Rob Pool on Aristocrat Sarah Stanton on Chinook Ruth Bookbinder on Chip Kelan O’Hara on Misty Sue Bookbinder (Coach)
Canada
Mori on Kolboy Sarah on Bonanza Sam on Chinook Kim on Vodka Sean on Little Meg Jim Dunn (Coach)