SASCOC announces team for Youth Olympics

With 30 days to go until the opening ceremony of the Fourth Summer Youth Olympics, the South African Sports Confederation, Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SASCOC) has announced the Team SA squad to compete in Dakar, Senegal from 31 October to 13 November.

The Youth Olympics are back after an eight-year hiatus due to the knock-on effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2018 Games were staged in Buenos Aires but Dakar becomes the first African city to host any Olympics or Paralympic Games.

Team SA will be represented by 46 athletes across 15 different codes in Dakar, with boys’ rugby sevens including 12 players. The other 14 sports and their representation are: archery (2), athletics (10), badminton (1), beach volleyball (2), cycling (2), fencing (1), equestrian (1), gymnastics (6), judo (1), rowing coastal beach (1), skateboarding (1), swimming (4), beach wrestling (1) and triathlon (1).

In making the announcement, the acting president of SASCOC, Lwandile Simelane, noted the significance of the Games. “It’s truly a historical moment in sport. The first Youth Olympics in Africa – in fact, the first International Olympic Committee event ever staged on the continent – has to be celebrated. It’s huge for Africa and Team SA is committed to playing a full part in the overall success of the event. Our young athletes will go there as proud representatives of their country, and their continent. We wish them, as well as the organisers of the Youth Olympics, every success.”

Also adding her well wishes was the CEO of SASCOC, Nozipho Jafta. “These Youth Olympics have been a long time coming. Not only because it’s been an eight-year wait between Games but because it’s so significant for Africa. We have a very good relationship with Senegal but I want to say that while we will remain firm friends off the field of play, Team SA is going to Dakar with ambitions of competing strongly and winning medals.”

The Rugby Sevens competition will be contested from 1 to 3 November, with South Africa’s squad having been finalised following an extensive talent identification and selection process.

Former Springbok Sevens player and coach Sandile Ngcobo was appointed head coach while Bongani Qumbu, a member of the Springbok management at the Rugby World Cup in 2023, will serve in the dual role of team manager and strength & conditioning coach.

The selected players were part of an extended squad of 30 players that attended a week-long preparation camp earlier this month. The group was identified through SA Rugby's national talent identification network and selected on the strength of their performances across a range of elite school and age-group competitions.

Two players, Siphesihle Marule and Werner de Bruin, were part of the SA Schools ‘A’ squad earlier this year, which was selected after the FNB U18 Craven Week.

Ngcobo said: “Players were monitored through the FNB Youth Weeks and SA Schools programmes, while we also keep an eye on leading school fixtures, tournaments such as North-South and Wildeklawer tournaments, as well as other major rugby festivals and competitions staged throughout South Africa.

“As part of the final selection and readiness process, the squad participated in a tournament at Paarl Gimnasium a few weeks ago, where we could see how they fared in actual sevens match situations.

“It was great to see the group go through the tournament unbeaten, and we feel that the final 12 players who were selected, based on their performances during the camps and competition, will do the country proud in Senegal.”

In the three completed Summer Youth Olympics to date, Team SA has won 15 medals, of which six of them have been gold. Team SA has brought home a gold medal at each of the three previous Games; occupying 39th position on the all-time medals table.

The most famous products from the Youth Olympics onto the senior international stage are swimmers Chad le Clos (2010) and Michael Houlie (2014), who both won gold at the respective Games and went onto international stardom. Both are still competing and earned medals for Team SA at the recent 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

SASCOC previously announced 2012 London Olympics rowing gold medallist Sizwe Ndlovu as Chef de Mission (team leader) at the Dakar Games. His responsibilities will include helping to safeguard athlete welfare, strengthening team cohesion, supporting a high-performance culture and ensuring that South Africa’s young athletes are able to represent the country with pride, discipline and distinction.

THE TEAM

Archery (2)

Boys: Benjamin Oosthuizen

Girls: Layla Viljoen

Management: Catharina Whitehead

Athletics (10)

Boys: Enrique Bosch, Matao Le Roux, Darius Botha, Jacobus van der Merwe, John-Pierre Theron

Girls: Janelle Kirkpatrick, Megan Nieman, Milan Blignaut, Shiloh Snijders, Lara Stander

Management: Regoabetswe Malope, Seef le Roux

Badminton (1)

Boys: Misha Bredell

Management: Dillan Schaap

Beach volleyball (2)

Boys: Duncan Davids, Evra King

Management: Koali Possa

Beach wrestling (1)

Girls: Duné van Zyl

Management: Dean van Zyl

Cycling (2)

Boys: Yahyaa Martin

Girls: Madison Bateson

Management: Durwan Benjamin

Fencing (1)

Girls: Nikita Venturas

Management: Alexandra Lancaster

Equestrian (1)

Girls: Bo Reed

Management: Alexander Nell

Gymnastics (6)

Girls: Zia Davids, Haylee van Rensburg, Lila du Plessis

Boys: Frederik Davies-Vaneetvelde, Gethin Davies-Vaneetvelde, Pfumelo Shibambu

Management: Anke Badenhorst, Kevin Basson

Judo (1)

Boys: Adriaan Schutte

Management: Allerdyce Fulton

Rowing (1)

Boys: Callum Dreyer

Management: Avlyn Gallwey

Rugby Sevens (12)

Boys: Werner de Bruin, Dandre Brink, Thubelihle Marule, Corne Ferreira, James Sale, Siphesihle

Marule, Darnell Delport, Rosco Williams, Divan Meyer, Jake Dave, Albert Nel, Kingsley Pule

Management: Sandile Ngcobo, Bongani Qumbu

Skateboarding (1)

Boys: Botho Losaba

Management: Sharne Jacobs

Swimming (4)

Boys: Matthew Goller, Eric Kotze

Girls: Chanel Veldsman, Leah Markgraaff

Management: Keenan Riffel

Triathlon (1)

Girls: Taylor Foster

Management: Mfanufikile Radebe

PREVIOUS GAMES

2010 Singapore

2014 Nanjing

2018 Buenos Aires

TOTAL MEDALS

6 Gold

5 Silver

4 Bronze

PREVIOUS GOLD MEDALLISTS

Athletics

2010: Jacques du Plessis

2014: Gezelle Magerman

2018: Luke Davis

Swimming

2010: Chad le Clos

2018: Michael Houlie

Triathlon

2018: Amber Schlebusch