Summer Series, the heat is on

Yellow Pages Summer Series

South Africa’s track and field athletes from over the country heading for the coast will be looking to turn up the heat in their quest for quality times, distances and throws, when the second edition of the Yellow Pages Summer Series take place in the Eastern and Western Cape.

The series consists of 4 meetings taking place in Port Elizabeth on 8 December, Oudtshoorn on 12 December and Stellenbosch on the 15th.  The final leg will be in Parow on 17 December.  As in 2010, the 2011 Yellow Pages Summer Series will focus mostly on non standard events, ie 60m, 150m and 300m sprints and hurdles in the 60m and 300m; also on the cards at some of events will be the mile including the fast growing street mile in Oudtshoorn on 13 December.

In 2010 Cornel Frederick’s total dominance in the 300m hurdles saw him take that form into the standard 400m hurdles and eventually a 5th place at the World Championships. Tshamano Setone won the mile in PE, Oudtshoorn (including the street mile) and in Stellenbosch but opted out of the final event in Parow, whilst Cindy Stewart continued her unbeaten streak in South Africa. With the World Indoor Circuit commencing in January and culminating in the World Indoor Championships in March, the Yellow Pages Summer Series is the ideal launch pad for athletes who want to make their mark in the International Indoor season.

During the Yellow Pages Summer Series, the athletes will be further incentivized with the male and female ‘Athlete of the Meet’ awards to be determined based on the performance of athletes.

According to ASA President James Evans, Athletics South Africa is pleased that the Summer Series is continuing into its second year.  “We trust that it will continue to grow in strength. We are also both grateful and also thrilled that Yellow Pages is continuing to support the series.”

“The Yellow Pages Summer Series provides the platform for athletes and spectators to enjoy the sport in a holiday atmosphere and also compete amongst each other, before the serious business of preparing for the Olympic Games in August 2012 begins early in the new year. We hope that supporters of the sport will come down to the stadia and join in the fun, said Evans.

Trudon Group Marketing Lionel Smith said: “Following the success of the inaugural Yellow Pages Summer Series last December, we look forward to taking the Yellow Pages Summer Series athletics entertainment down the coast, allowing sports fans the chance of witnessing quality track and field performances.”

“This year’s Yellow Pages Summer Series will be the perfect end to our company’s fifth year of sponsorship of Athletics SA’s track and field events and we look forward to taking athletics to even greater heights during the 2012 Yellow Pages season. Our sponsorship provides the platform for athletes to produce high quality performances through which they are able to become role models across all communities in SA, most importantly to the young sportsmen and sportswomen of the future,” said Smith.