South African Sport
The most popular sports in South Africa are soccer, rugby and cricket
in South Africa" Other sports with significant support are hockey,swimming, athletics, golf, boxing, tennis and netball. Although soccer commands the greatest following among the youth, other sports like basketball, surfing, and skateboarding are increasingly popular.
Sports in South Africa have a passionate following, although they remain largely divided along ethnic lines.Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in South Africa, particularly amongst blacks who constitute the majority of the population. The national football team is nicknamed Bafana Bafana (meaning the boys, the boys). South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the first one hosted in Africa.Cricket is the second most popular sport in South Africa, and is traditionally the sport of the Anglo-African and Indian South African communities, although it is now followed by members of all races. The national cricket team is nicknamed The Proteas.
Rugby union is also very popular, especially among persons of Afrikaner descent. The national rugby union team, The Springboks, have enjoyed considerable success since the early 20th Century, including two Rugby World Cup victories in 1995 & 2007.Other popular sports include: boxing, hockey, tennis, golf, surfing, netball and running.South Africa was absent from international sport for most of the apartheid era due to sanctions, but started competing globally after the country's white electorate voted in a referendum in favour of a negotiated settlement of the apartheid question.
The South African government and SASCOC have been striving to improve – incrementally – the participation of the previously excluded majority in competitive sports (i.e. Blacks in rugby and Whites in association football), but so far with limited success, due to resistance on part of numerous federations.
South Africa was banned from the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo due to the apartheid policies. This ban effectively lasted until 1992. During this time, some sports people (like Zola Budd and Kepler Wessels) left for other countries in order to compete internationally. Some athletes continued their sports careers in South Africa in isolation, with some stars like women's 400 metres runner Myrtle Bothma running a world record time at the South African championships.
Some sports teams toured South Africa as "Rebel Tours" and played the Springbok rugby and Proteas cricket teams in South Africa during the isolation period.In 1977, Commonwealth Presidents and Prime Ministers agreed, as part of their support for the international campaign against apartheid, to discourage contact and competition between their sportsmen and sporting organisations, teams or individuals from South Africa.
South Africa has an active athletics schedule and has produced a number of athletes who compete internationally and qualify for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea, the relay team of Shane Victor, Ofentse Mogawane, Willem de Beer and Oscar Pistorius set a national record time of 2:59.21 seconds in the heats. South Africa went on to win a silver medal in the finals with the team of Victor, Mogawane, de Beer and Louis Jacob van Zyl.In 2012 Caster Semenya won a silver medal in the women's 800m of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, with a time of 1:57.23 seconds. Also in 2012, Oscar Pistorius became the first double amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympic Games, but did not win a medal.
Pistorius won a gold medal and a bronze medal in the T44 class at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, and three gold medals at the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing. He also won two gold medals at the 2012 Paralympic Games and remained the T43 world record holder for the 200 and 400 metres events. The South African team of Pistorius, Arnu Fourie, Zivan Smith and Samkelo Radebe won a gold medal and set a Paralympic record in the 4x100m relay with a time of 41.78 seconds. Fourie also set a world record in the heats of the T44 200m event and won a bronze medal in the 100m event.
Australian rules football is a popular sport in South Africa. Since 1996 the sport has been growing quickly and especially amongst the indigenous communities. South Africa's has a national team the South African national Australian rules football team. The team made history in 2007 by competing against Australia's best Under 17 players, as well as defeating a touring Australian amateur senior team for the first time.
There is an annual national championships which was first held in 2008. The South African national team also competes in the Australian Football International Cup which is essentially a World Cup for all countries apart from Australia which is the only place where the sport is played professionally. The South African national team highest finish at the International Cup is 3rd which was in 2008.
Cricket is the second most popular sport in South Africa. It is popular among English-speaking whites. It is the only sport in South Africa to feature in the top two sports of all race groups. The national team is known as the Proteas.South Africa is one of the leading cricket-playing nations in the world and one of ten countries that is sanctioned to play test cricket. Cricket was traditionally popular among English-speaking whites and the Asian community, though the latter were not able to compete in top-level South African cricket in the apartheid era. Since the end of the apartheid era, a higher proportion of white players have come from Afrikaans-speaking backgrounds, and attempts have been made to increase the number of non-white players, in part through a quota system.
The current national team features prominent non-white players, such as Ashwell Prince, Hashim Amla (the first Muslim to play for South Africa), Herschelle Gibbs, Monde Zondeki, Loots Bosman, Charl Langeveldt, and Makhaya Ntini. Afrikaners in the team include AB de Villiers, Albie Morkel, Morné Morkel, Johan Botha and Dale Steyn
The team has had success with batsmen like Herschelle Gibbs, who is one of the sport's most dominating batsmen, all-rounders like Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock, the former being one of the greatest all rounders of the game, and bowlers such as Makhaya Ntini, who reached number two in the ICC Player Rankings in 2006. Dale Steyn is currently ranked as one of the best test bowlers, and captain Graeme Smith is one of the most dominant left-handed batsmen in world cricket today. Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher has the world record for the most number of dismissals for a wicketkeeper and continues playing for the team. Kevin Pietersen, who is white, left the country claiming that he was put at a disadvantage by positive discrimination, and within a few years became one of the world's top batsmen, playing for England.
South Africa is one of the strongest teams and in 2006, in Johannesburg in what was the highest scoring 50 over ODI ever, South Africa led by Gibbs' 175 chased down Australia's mammoth and then world record score of 434–4. South Africa hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup an event that was disappointing to them as they lost against Sri Lanka in what happened to be in a farcical situation and were eliminated on home soil. In the 2007 Cricket World Cup, South Africa reached the semi-finals of the event but lost to Australia.
Rugby league is a popular sport in South Africa. It has a long history, and consisting of no less than three and possibly four different administrative boards, committee or interests over 40 odd years that attempted to establish the game of rugby league in South Africa. None of the earlier attempts were very successful.The first attempted expansion of the code into South Africa was primarily put together by the English and encouraged by the French for the purpose of expanding the game into new nations that would inevitably bring more tests to the English and French shores, ensuring a lucrative future. At least, that was the plan however, it was not to be; the South African public did not take to the sport and the expansion plans were stopped prematurely, causing the cancellation of a third scheduled match in London.
The second attempted expansion was a strange double act in the 1960s consisting of two separate factions, known as the National Rugby League and South African Rugby League. Each fought for their own survival until the RLIF laid down the law that saw the NRL effectively shut down and its clubs moved to the SARL. All was looking good for SARL until a South African representative team toured Australia and were embarrassingly beaten, enough to discourage South African fans from supporting their national team and thus it never caught on.The 1990s brought forth a more committed band of entrepreneurs. The foundation left by the 1990s administration still lives on today, albeit a former shadow of itself.The rugby league competition in South Africa is the Tom van Vollenhoven Cup.
Rugby union is a popular sport in South Africa, especially amongst Afrikaners. The national team is known as the Springboks. South Africa hosted and won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, in what was their first appearance. The defeat of the All Blacks in the final is remembered as one of the most famous South African sporting moments. The domestic league the Currie Cup is also played annually, as well as the international Super Rugby.After being tainted by associations with apartheid, the Springboks (or 'Boks') have sought to become part of the 'New South Africa', with President Nelson Mandela wearing the Springbok jersey, once only worn by whites, at the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup.South Africa won the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Rugby league is a team sport played in South Africa. There has been three dynasties of rugby league in South Africa that attempted to establish a thriving rugby league. Not all attempts were in the interest of South Africans; rather an interest in financial windfall. Others took to the townships and promoted the league at the grass roots, which saw some of the most successful periods of rugby league in South Africa. The game has changed over 50 years of involvement in South Africa and today is played by a small number of teams in the Tom van Vollenhoven Cup which is administered by the South African Rugby League.
Rugby league in South Africa has a long and turbulent history, consisting of no less than three administrations over 40 years that attempted to establish the game of rugby league in South Africa. Neither, certainly the earlier attempts were very successful.The first attempted expansion of the code into South Africa was primarily put together by the English and encouraged by the French for the purpose of expanding the game into new nations, that would inevitably bring more tests to the English and French shores, ensuring a lucrative future. At least, that was the plan; however it was not to be, the South African public did not take to the sport and the expansion plans were stopped prematurely causing a 3rd scheduled match in London to not be played.
The second attempted expansion was a strange double act in the 1960s consisting of two separate factions, known as the National Rugby League and South African Rugby League. Each fought for their own survival until the RLIF laid down the law that saw the NRL effectively shut down and its clubs moved to the SARL. All was looking good for SARL until a South African representative team toured Australia and were embarrassingly beaten.In 1991 the South African Rugby Football League was established to promote amateur rugby league.1998's World Club Challenge between the British and Australian champions was mooted as a showpiece fixture at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
However this didn't eventuate.In 2009 there are currently three South Africans playing in Australia, Jarrod Saffy who plays for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, Allan Heldsinger who plays for the Redcliffe Dolphins and Daine Laurie who plays with the Wests Tigers. In 2010 the Sydney Roosters have signed South African rugby union junior JP Du Plessis. The NRL plan to sign more South Africans in the future.So far the Sydney Roosters have signed four South African rugby union players and Peter O'Sullivan stated he will bring them all on a bus back to Bondi the Melbourne Storm have also recruited players from the country.In 2011 a host of changes were implemented by the remaining clubs, the first of which was to elect a representative board and establish a Commercial Entity to take the sport forward.
The result is a new National Club Championship as well as several international tours next year. The South African Senior Side also played in the Rugby League World Cup Qualifier in 2011 and will hope to build in 2012 towards a strong showing in the 2012 and 2013 international seasons.The South African Students will be competing in the Rugby League Students World Cup in July 2013 in England.
The South Africa national rugby union team (Afrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse nasionale rugbyspan) commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys with white shorts. Their emblem is a native antelope, the Springbok, which is the national animal of South Africa. The team has been representing South African Rugby Union in international rugby union since 30 July 1891, when they played their first test match against a British Isles touring team. Currently, the Springboks are the number one ranked rugby team in the world and are the reigning World Champions, having won the World Cup on a record four occasions (1995, 2007, 2019 and 2023). They are also the second nation to win the World Cup consecutively (2019 and 2023).
The team made its World Cup debut in 1995, when the newly democratic South Africa hosted the tournament. Although South Africa was instrumental in the creation of the Rugby World Cup competition, the Springboks could not compete in the first two World Cups in 1987 and 1991 because of international anti-apartheid sporting boycotts. The Springboks defeated the All Blacks 15–12 in the 1995 final, which is now remembered as one of the greatest moments in South Africa's sporting history, and a watershed moment in the post-Apartheid nation-building process. This cast a new light on South Africa, where people of all colour united as one nation to watch their team play.
South Africa regained the title as champions 12 years later, when they defeated England 15–6 in the 2007 final. As a result of the 2007 World Cup tournament the Springboks were promoted to first place in the IRB World Rankings, a position they held until July the following year when New Zealand regained the top spot. They were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards. South Africa then won a third World Cup title, defeating England 32–12 in the 2019 final. As a result of this, the South African National Rugby Union Team were named 2020 World Team of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards for a second time. They went on to retain their title in 2023.
The Springboks also compete in the annual Rugby Championship (formerly the Tri-Nations), along with their Southern Hemisphere counterparts Argentina, Australia and New Zealand. They have won the Championship on four occasions in Twenty-Four competitions and are the only team to have won a version of the competition and the Rugby World Cup in the same year.
For almost a century, South Africans have taken great pride in the performance of their national rugby union team. The team has gained widespread recognition around the world, even among non-rugby fans. Rugby union is a highly popular sport in South Africa, and it is often the preferred sport of the country's most talented athletes. Sixteen former Springboks and influential South Africans have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. They are also the only team with a 50% win-rate in the Rugby World Cup series.
Many teams have had their biggest defeats to the Springboks; including Australia, Italy, Scotland, Uruguay, Wales and New Zealand.
south african rugby teams
Organisation
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Blue Bulls Rugby Union ( Pretoria)
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Boland Rugby Union ( Wellington)
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Border Rugby Football Union ( East London)
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Eastern Province Rugby Union ( Gqeberha)
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Falcon-Valke Rugby Union ( Brakpan)
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Free State Rugby Union ( Bloemfontein)
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Golden Lions Rugby Union ( Johannesburg)
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Griffons Rugby Union ( Welkom)
Springboks.rugby a Few Players
Duane Vermeulen
Loose Forward
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Age
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37
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Caps
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75
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Points
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15
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Height
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193 cm
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Weight
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117 kg
Sport in South Africa
South Africa was banned from the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo due to the apartheid policies. This ban effectively lasted until 1992. During this time, some sports people (like Zola Budd and Kepler Wessels) left for other countries in order to compete internationally. Some athletes continued their sports careers in South Africa in isolation, with some stars like women's 400 metres runner Myrtle Bothma running a world record time at the South African championships.
Some sports teams toured South Africa as "Rebel Tours" and played the Springbok rugby and cricket teams in South Africa during the isolation period.
In 1977, Commonwealth Presidents and Prime Ministers agreed, as part of their support for the international campaign against apartheid, to discourage contact and competition between their sportsmen and sporting organisations, teams or individuals from South Africa.
South Africa was banned from the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo due to the apartheid policies. This ban effectively lasted until 1992. During this time, some sports people (like Zola Budd and Kepler Wessels) left for other countries in order to compete internationally. Some athletes continued their sports careers in South Africa in isolation, with some stars like women's 400 metres runner Myrtle Bothma running a world record time at the South African championships.
Some sports teams toured South Africa as "Rebel Tours" and played the Springbok rugby and cricket teams in South Africa during the isolation period.
In 1977, Commonwealth Presidents and Prime Ministers agreed, as part of their support for the international campaign against apartheid, to discourage contact and competition between their sportsmen and sporting organisations, teams or individuals from South Africa.
Regulation
The National Sport and Recreation Act (1998) provides for the promotion and development of sport in South Africa, and coordinates relationships between the Sports Commission, sports federations and related agencies. It aims to correct imbalances in sport by promoting equity and democracy, and provides for dispute resolution mechanisms. It empowers the Minister to make regulations, and allows the Sports Commission (and NOCSA in respect of the Olympic Games) to co-ordinate, promote and develop sport in South Africa. Membership of the Sports Commission is open to a wide range of sports bodies, as long as these meet the criteria set by the commission. Sports bodies that permit forms of discrimination based on gender, race, disability, religion or creed, are for instance not allowed.
A draft amendment bill (December 2019) proposed by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture aims to strengthen the minister's regulatory control over sports codes (at local, provincial or national levels), besides clubs and fitness organisations. If accepted, a Sport Arbitration Tribunal will be created. The tribunal will determine the delegation of sporting powers and will be tasked with disputes arising between different sports bodies. It will also regulate the fitness industry (registration and certification), set up procedures in bidding for and hosting of international sports events, regulate combat sport, and decide on offences and penalties (including jail sentences). Sports bodies would not operate independently anymore, but would promote their sports in consultation with the minister.
The role of sport in the formation of a South African identity, post-Apartheid
Association football has historically been particularly popular amongst persons of African descent, although it does have a strong following amongst white South Africans as well and is South Africa's most popular sport overall. South Africa also hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The South Africa national rugby union team, which is nicknamed Springboks or the Bokke, are currently ranked no. 1 in the world in Rugby union, and have had multiple successful international and world cup campaigns. Rugby union is traditionally the most popular sport among white South Africans overall, with half of whites preferring it. (Cricket is a distant second, favored by 1 in 5 white South Africans).[4] Today, rugby is played and enjoyed amongst all races in South Africa. South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the first in Africa, and won it as well.
Cricket is popular among the English-speaking white and Indian communities, although it has followers among all races. The national cricket team is nicknamed The Proteas. South Africa hosted the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup and 2007 ICC World Twenty20.
Other popular sports include: athletics, basketball, boxing, golf, netball, softball, field hockey, swimming, surfing and tennis.
Women's sport
Sport in South Africa is still largely seen (in the words of a former member of Women and Sport South Africa) as "the domain of men". In 1997, one writer described "massive gender inequalities in the sporting structures of the country, and a strong association between sport and masculinity".
National teams and names
South Africa's national sporting colours are green, gold and white. The protea is the national emblem worn by South Africans representing their country in sport.
The national rugby union teams are nicknamed the "Springboks", while the national cricket teams are known as the "Proteas".
Rugby
Rugby union
Main article: Rugby union in South Africa
The 1906 Springboks team
Rugby union is the most popular team sport among white South Africans, but in more recent years has garnered a dedicated following among other ethnic groups.[4] The national team is known as the Springboks. South Africa hosted and won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, in what was their first appearance as South Africa emerged from the isolation of the Apartheid era. The defeat of the All Blacks in the final is remembered as one of the most famous South African sporting moments overall. The domestic league – the Currie Cup – is also played annually. From 1996, South Africa fielded sides against teams from Australia and New Zealand in the Super Rugby competition. This was expanded to include teams from Argentina and Japan but, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the competition to split into three, South Africa left and joined the United Rugby Championship facing teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy. This new alignment to the Northern Hemisphere led to South Africa's inclusion in the European Rugby Champions Cup from 2022.
After being tainted by associations with Apartheid, the Springboks (or 'Boks') have sought to become part of the 'New South Africa', with President Nelson Mandela wearing the Springbok jersey, once only worn by white South Africans, at the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
South Africa has won the Rugby World Cup four times, in 1995, 2007, 2019 and 2023, the only country in the world to ever do so.
Rugby league
Main article: Rugby league in South Africa
Rugby league is popular, although to a much lesser extent than rugby union.[citation needed] The national team, nicknamed the Rhinos, have enjoyed moderate success since their first international matches in the 1960s, reaching the World Cup in 1995 and 2000 and were among the premier nations in the sport in the 1990s and early 2000s. They are ranked 25th in the world. Rugby league (XIII) is a more recently growing spectator sport in South Africa in current years, but it has struggled to gain a foothold in the country due to the popularity of sports such as soccer, rugby union and cricket, and also due to their location, meaning a lack of meaningful international matches.
The South Africa national rugby league team (Rhinos) is ranked 25th in the world out of 51 countries ranked and doesn't manage to enjoy the success or media attention that most other sports receive.[citation needed] The national team dates back to the early 60's and have featured in 2 World Cups, the 1995 Rugby League World Cup and the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.[11][12]
South African players who have played professionally in Australasia's NRL and the Super League include Tom Van Vollenhoven (St Helens R.F.C.), Jamie Bloem (Castleford Tigers, Huddersfield Giants and Halifax) and Jarrod Saffy (Wests Tigers and St. George Illawarra Dragons).
There are currently three competitions, the top-level Rhino Cup consisting of 8 teams, the Protea Cup, consisting of 4 and the Western Province Rugby League, consisting of 5.
Rugby sevens
The South Africa national rugby sevens team (known as the Blitzbokke) compete in the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Summer Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games. They won the bronze medal in the 2016 Olympic Games, and silver in the 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens. They have won the Commonwealth Games tournament twice in 2014 and 2022. As of 2024, South Africa have won the Sevens World Series four times. The South Africa Sevens is an annual tournament held in Cape Town as the South African leg of the Sevens World Series.
Soccer
Main article: Soccer in South Africa
Soccer, as the sport is known in South Africa, is the most popular team sport amongst all South Africans.[13][4][5][6]
South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first African nation to do so.
Bafana Bafana, as hosts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, were drawn in Group A with Mexico, Uruguay and France, they played their first match against Mexico which ended in a 1–1 draw in Johannesburg. They played their second match against Uruguay and the match ended in a 3–0 defeat in Pretoria, their last match was against France in Bloemfontein which South Africa needed more goals to advance to the knockout stages but the match ended in a 2–1 win that was not enough for them to progress to the knockout stages, thereby becoming the first host nation to exit at the group stage in history of World Cup. After the world cup the team continues to struggle as they missed the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups.
The team has made three appearances in the FIFA World Cup; 1998, 2002 and 2010 and, as of 2024, has made 11 appearances in the Africa Cup of Nations. Their best result was in 1996 when, as hosts, they won the tournament.
Mamelodi Sundowns is the most successful team in the South African Premiership era, boasting the most appearances in the CAF Champions League (Champions in 2015), Africa Football League (inaugural participant in 2023) and in the FIFA Club World Cup (2016). Other popular teams include Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, dubbed the Soweto rivals. The domestic cups are the MTN 8, Black Label Cup and Nedbank Cup while the international cups are CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup. The sport's governing body is SAFA.
Cricket
Main article: Cricket in South Africa
The Proteas at The Oval in August 2008
Cricket is one of the most popular team sports in South Africa. The national team is known as the Proteas.
South Africa is one of the leading cricket-playing nations in the world and one of the twelve countries sanctioned to play test cricket. South Africa is famous for its batters, fast bowlers and fielders such as AB De Villiers, Dale Steyn and Jonty Rhodes.
Cricket was traditionally popular among English-speaking whites and the Asian (Subcontinent) community, though the latter were not able to compete in top-level South African cricket in the apartheid era. Since the end of the apartheid era, a higher proportion of white players have come from Afrikaans-speaking backgrounds, and attempts have been made to increase the number of non-white players, in part through a quota system. The current national team features prominent non-white players, such as Kagiso Rabada, Hashim Amla (the first Muslim to play for South Africa), Keshav Maharaj, Temba Bavuma, Vernon Philander, Lungi Ngidi, and Tabraiz Shamsi. Afrikaners in the team include Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen, Wiaan Mulder, and Heinrich Klaasen. Charl Langeveldt, a non-white player, also became the first South African to take a hat-trick in an ODI match in 2005. Kagiso Rabada became the third after JP Duminy, and currently boasts the best match figures by a South African, 6 for 16, in an ODI.
The team has had success with batsmen like Herschelle Gibbs, who was one of the sport's most dominating batsmen, all-rounders like Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock, the former being one of the greatest all rounders of the game, and bowlers such as Makhaya Ntini, who reached number two in the ICC Player Rankings in 2006. Dale Steyn is currently ranked as one of the best test bowlers, and former captain Graeme Smith was one of the most dominant left-handed batsmen in recent world cricket history. Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher has the world record for the most dismissals for a wicketkeeper in Tests. Kevin Pietersen, who is white, was forced to leave the country to pursue his career given he was put at a disadvantage by the discriminatory racial quotas, and within a few years became one of the world's top batsmen, playing for England. South Africa is one of the strongest teams[citation needed] and in 2006, in Johannesburg in what was the highest scoring 50 over ODI ever, South Africa led by Gibbs' 175 chased down Australia's mammoth and then world record score of 434–4. South Africa hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup an event that was disappointing to them as they tied against Sri Lanka in what happened to be in a farcical situation and were eliminated on home soil. In the 2007 Cricket World Cup, South Africa reached the semi-finals of the event but lost to Australia. They were sent home by New Zealand in the 2011 Cricket World Cup and the same team also defeated them in the 2015 Cricket World Cup in a thrilling semi-final.
South Africans are at the top and are a consistent team in the test format for the last half decade.[citation needed] They are often considered as fearsome for the teams touring from the Indian subcontinent because of their brutal fast bowling.
Hockey
Major events: Hockey Africa Cup of Nations, Hockey World Cup and Women's Hockey World Cup
Hockey in South Africa has been played for decades, mainly by the white minority. Like most other sports, South Africa was banned from international Hockey from 1964 onwards. In August 1992, the South African Hockey Association was formed, with the aims of "Creat[ing] opportunities for participation without distinction based on colour, race, creed, religion or gender" and to "Redress historical disparities to allow all to participate and compete equally and specifically address the needs of historically disadvantaged communities through special programmes."[14] As a result, South Africa was allowed to take part in international competitions from 1993 onwards, including the Hockey Africa Cup of Nations, a trophy that has been won every time since by both the South African Men's Hockey team and the South African Women's Hockey team.
On the national level, the major competition within South Africa is the Premier Hockey league. This consists of two leagues (one men, one women) each of six teams. The men's teams are the Addo Elephants, Drakensberg Dragons, Garden Route Gazelles, Golden Gate Gladiators, Mapungubwe Mambas and the Maropeng Cavemen. The women's teams are the Blyde River Bunters, Madikwe Rangers, Namaqualand Daisies, Orange River Rafters, St Lucia Lakers and the Wineland Wings. The Golden Gate Gladiators and the Namaqualand Daisies are the South African national U21 teams for men and women respectively. The teams played each other on a round robin tournament and the bottom two teams are eliminated (and then play each other to determine 5th and 6th place.) The top four teams play in two semi-finals, the 1st against the 3rd and the 2nd against the 4th. The winners of each semi-final then play each other in the final (and the losers play each other for 3rd and 4th place.)[15] The league usually plays over four weekends from late November to mid December.
On the world stage, the men's team has qualified for the Olympics four times, highest placing 10th (2004). They've also qualified for the Hockey World Cup seven times, highest placing 10th (1994 and 2010). The women's team has qualified for the Olympics four times, highest placing 9th (2004), and the Women's Hockey World Cup six times, highest placing 7th (1998).
South Africa's Men's and Women's teams are both members of the African Hockey Federation, the governing body for Hockey in Africa, and the International Hockey Federation.
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