Virgin Active Sport Industry Awards winners announced

27 Feb 2012

The Virgin Active Sport Industry Awards were recently held at the Emperors Palace, Joburg, to honour outstanding performers in marketing, PR, sponsorship, advertising, community investment and mass participation sport. There were also three Judges' Awards.

Emperors Palace was filled with 1200 key figures from the industry and a host of top celebrities.

The star performer of the night was unquestionably Absa, the bank being rewarded for its sponsorship of both the Absa Premiership and the Absa Springboks, as well as securing the awards for Best Use of Digital Communications in Sport and Best TV Sport Commercial for its "Team of Millions" Rugby World Cup campaign. Joining Absa on the stage as the outstanding performers of the last 12 months were SASOL, Telkom, the DHL Stormers, SuperSport, SAB, sports agency Exp and the Comrades Marathon.

Lifetime Achievement Award for Gary Player

Two sporting legends and one of the country's leading entrepreneurs were also acclaimed. Gary Player received the Johnnie Walker Lifetime Achievement Award as the latest prize in a stellar career both on and off the golf course. Oscar Pistorius, the multi-Paralympic champion and fighter for social inclusion, was named the winner of SuperSport Outstanding Contribution to South African Sport for his efforts in 2011, while Carol Weaving was named Virgin Active Entrepreneur of the Year.

Celebrity guests included Heyneke Meyer, Lucas Radebe, Kerry McGregor, Mark Fish, Doctor Khumalo, Neil McKenzie, Juan de Jongh, Ryan Sandes, Elana Meyer, Shashi Naidoo, Butch James, Roxy Louw, CJ van der Linde.

This year, more than 130 entries went through a rigourous two-stage judging process scrutinised at all times by the official independent adjudicator, Deloitte, with some of the biggest and most respected names in sport involved as judges.

The winners:

Best Sponsorship of a Sport Event or Competition: Absa - Absa Premiership
Best Sponsorship of a Sport Team or Individual: Absa - Absa Springboks
Best Use of PR in a Sport Campaign: SASOL - SASOL Banyana Banyana
The Virgin Unite Community Programme Award: Telkom - Telkom Rural Splash "Learn To Swim"
Best Use of Digital Communications in Sport: Absa - Absa Springbok "Team of Millions"
Best TV Sport Commercial: Absa - Absa Springbok "Team of Millions"
Virgin Active Best Business Performance by a Sport Team: DHL Stormers
Sport Brand of the Year: SuperSport
Best Integrated Sport Marketing Campaign: SAB - Carling Black Label "Be The Coach"
Sport Agency of the Year: Exp (South Africa)
Sport Participation Event of the Year: Comades Marathon

Judges' Awards