Trudon and Athletics SA launch 2012 Yellow Pages Series

2012 is a big year for South African Athletics with the World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain from 10-15 July and the Olympic Games in London, the athletics programme taking place from 3-12 August. With the goal of qualifying for the Championships and the Games, the domestic season promises to be an exhilarating one for both Senior and Junior athletes as they look to qualify for the two high profile international events of the year.

The 2012 Yellow Pages Series will comprise of two Yellow Pages Interprovincial events taking place on 25 February (Germiston) and 3 March (Bellville) respectively, followed by three Yellow Pages Series meetings in Stellenbosch (20 March), Potchefstroom (24 March) and Tshwane (20 April).

In addition to these, a new event in the form of the Yellow Pages SA Inter-Club event has been added to the list, taking place on 5 April, while Yellow Pages will continue their sponsorship of the Yellow Pages South African Senior Championships on 13 & 14 April (Port Elizabeth) and the revised Yellow Pages South African Junior and Schools Championships taking place on 29, 30 & 31 March and 1 April (Germiston).

Athletics SA and Yellow Pages recently announced that for the first time in the history of South African athletics two major national championships - the Yellow Pages South African Youth, Junior and u/23 Championships and the SA School Championships - have been combined to form one big event under the Athletics South Africa umbrella.

"This is big year for South African athletics, both because it is the Olympic Year but also because for the first time Athletics South Africa and South African Schools Athletics are working together to host a joint championships. Not only are the Schools and Junior Championships vital to the selection of a team to the World Junior Championships, but also with the Minister of Sport having laid down the challenge to promote school sport, this initiative is the first step towards finding and developing future Olympic talent by integrating the schools and the federation programmes. We are pleased that Yellow Pages is part of this exciting new development after they have been a loyal and major supporter of Athletics South Africa for a number of years now. Their contribution to South African track & field is greatly valued," said James Evans, President of Athletics South Africa.

In remaining true to their vision, Yellow Pages continues to make a positive contribution to the sport of athletics: "Athletics as a sporting code has a host of incredibly talented athletes and we are both humbled and proud of the contribution we are able to make to athletics at a provincial and national level, which ultimately enables our South African athletes to achieve greater international success," said Zwelakhe Ndlovu, Yellow Pages Sponsorship Manager.

Last year the Yellow Pages Pot of Gold - an incentive worth R200 000 was introduced to further motivate athletes to strive for greatness, by setting new South African records during the series. This year, Athletics SA and Yellow Pages are pleased to announce that athletes participating in the Yellow Pages Series in 2012 will again have the opportunity to share in the Pot of Gold, but this time the criteria to be eligible for a stake in the incentive is limited to athletes who achieve the A qualifying standard for the London Olympics.

"Of course 2012 is a particularly exciting year for us as a sponsor of Track and Field athletics. Being an Olympic year, athletes will be using the Yellow Pages Series as the road to qualify for the London Games and incentivising them with the Pot of Gold incentive is a great way to inspire the athletes," concluded Ndlovu.

In another exciting initiative, this time aimed at the fans of athletics, within the next few weeks supporters will also have the wonderful opportunity of entering a competition during the Yellow Pages athletics season to stand a chance of winning an all-expenses paid trip to London.