Sports Trader reports back : March 2011

Nike Free 5.0 launched in Cape Town

Media members and athletes test the Nike Free gear

Nike launched their latest technology in the Nike Free range to the press on the 17th of March at the Hyde hotel in Sea Point, Cape Town.

What started as a movement towards the development of minimalist shoes since 2001 evolved into a Nike Free shoe that allows for the natural movement of the foot which develops the strength, balance and flexibility benefits of barefoot running and combines it with minimal cushioning and support.

This provides ideal footwear for runners who are used to traditionally built-up shoes and are looking to train with minimalist footwear. Lieuwe Boonstra, triathlon and XTERRA athlete, and Mapaseka Makhanya, SA’s 800m champion, joined the press on their 2km run along the Sea Point promenade. The latest Nike Free 5.0 range will be available for retail in April.

Makhonya (left) and Boonstra talks to the media

Seruscka Naidoo and Alpheus Masa (left) of Nike

Liewe Boonstra, triathlon and Xterra athlete

Mapaseka Makhonya, SA's 800m champ

Rugby in the Western Cape got a boost this week when the Laureus Foundation made The Legends Cup Trust their latest funded project

Miguel Indurain, Morne du Plessis and Daley Thompson holding their Mitre balls

The aim of the Legends Cup project, founded in 2009, is to get vulnerable children in disadvantaged areas off the streets and offer them an alternative to crime through participation in regular rugby practices and leagues. Mitre supplies balls for the project.

First coaches are trained through courses that will bring their skills up to IRB standards. They then organise league games played in zones where the schools are so close that transport is no problem. So far more than 1 700 players from 80 schools in ten zones on the Cape Flats have been involved in matches. Then combined sides from each of the zones compete in the Mega 10 tournament, where a Legends Cup Gazelles team is formed that goes on tour.

Projects funded by Laureus must all have a social upliftment component and this project is teamed with Cool To Be Me, a NGO that teaches lifeskills in schools, in particular to instill a sense of self-worth and respect in children from gang- and violence-rife communities. Several Laureus Academy members – all sporting greats committed to using their fame in order to draw attention Laureus projects – attended the launch. Among them were former Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurain, the first to win the Tour de France five times, England’s Olympic gold medallist in decathlon Daley Thompson, former Banyana Banyana captain Desiree Ellis and rugby Springbok Bryan Habana.

Ivan Meyer, Western Cape MEC for Sport

Ismael Tuladia of the Rugby Legends Cup

Linda Bruce from Cool To Be Me adressed the media

Daley Thompson enjoying his new ball

Puma SA celebrates Cobra Golf merge

Puma sales director Luke Barret-Smith, MD of Puma Cobra Golf Deon Bakkes and Puma marketing manager Brett Bellinger

The merge between Cobra Golf and Puma SA was celebrated at the River Club in Observatory on the 18th of February, where the media and golfers had a chance to test Puma-Cobra clubs.

The international merge between Puma AG and Cobra Golf was announced in 2010, combining Puma Golf’s footwear, apparel and accessories designs with Cobra Golf’s advanced equipment, innovation and superior performance. The merge between Cobra Golf and Puma SA was officially announced and it was the first time that the latest Cobra S3 and S3 Max irons, drivers and fairway metals were showcased.

Puma’s E9 Face Technology expands the original sweet zone by 30%, allowing golfers to use a larger area of the club face. In tests, Cobra had golfers hitting more than 25 000 shots, during which they discovered that most players do not hit the ball on a circular sweet spot around the centre of the face all the time (with long irons), but rather in a slanted, elliptical pattern from the low heel to the high toe. With shorter irons, golfers are said to hit the ball in a circular pattern. The new cavity design changes Puma-Cobra’s Sweet Zone from elliptical in the long irons to oval in the mid-irons and to circular in the short irons.