“It’s important that CPUT continues to support innovative researchers. This firmly establishes our university as a knowledge resource - not only for our students but for industry and our nation. “ So says Brendon Knott, Senior Lecturer in the Sport Management Department, who was recently invited to present his research before the Tourism Portfolio Committee in Parliament. Knott was joined by CPUT colleague Prof Kamilla Swart of the Centre for Tourism Research in Africa (CETRA) who also presented at the Tourism Summit.

“Being invited to this summit helped to raise awareness for CPUT’s research profile and specifically links us with applied research that is useful for policy and decision-makers.
It was also an opportunity to showcase some of the relevant and cutting-edge research that CPUT is producing. Prof Swart and I were welcomed and accepted by the Committee and our presentations appeared to be valued”, said Knott.

His presentation was based on his current PhD, which focuses on the nation-branding legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup for South Africa. Undertaken through the University of Bournemouth in the United Kingdom, the first part of his fieldwork surveyed 561 international visitors in Cape Town and Durban during last year’s World Cup. Knott wanted to find out what their perceptions of the South African brand were before they arrived in the country, and then, having experienced South Africa first-hand, if and how these perceptions changed. His findings were quite significant, says Knott.  “Many visitors did not have clear perceptions before they came, but now were very positive about certain aspects, such as the natural beauty of the country and the friendliness of South Africans. Most visitors even rated the country as a safe place to visit; where safety was a major concern prior to the event.”

Knott gave the Committee recommendations on the use of future mega-events, and smaller home-grown events which could be used to leverage the nation-branding impact of the 2010 event for the country. He also highlighted the need for greater collaboration and co-ordination between government departments in sharing the responsibility for nation-branding.

When asked what kind of initiatives and partnerships his department currently has with industry, Knott said: “I represented the department in a few group research projects (mostly through CETRA) that helped the City of Cape Town and the Provincial Government with their preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. I also attended the Provincial 2010 Technical Committee meetings leading up to the event. Apart from this, the Sport Management Department has strong links with sports federations, including provincial rugby and cricket bodies, football associations and other sport development organisations”.

Knott believes as long as the research focus is current and relevant for industry, then prestigious invitations to speak at and advise Parliament will continue to happen.

By: Thando J. Moiloa

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A group of senior citizens showed-off their sporting skills during an outreach event organised by the third-year Sport Management class.

The event, which took place at the Greenpoint Urban Park, saw members of the Cape Peninsula Organisation for the Aged partake in various activities under the theme “Amazing Race”.

Based on the concept of the popular reality television show, the seniors completed various tasks in a bid to cross the finish line first.

The event also aimed at introducing and educating senior citizens on the importance of recreation and urban parks.

One of the participants of the day, 95-year-old Diane Meyer would put most of today’s youth to shame with her veering energy and determination.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the activities. I find it very important to keep fit, and the event offered the perfect opportunity to get moving,” says Meyer.

The teamwork between the students was undeniable and their enthusiasm and cooperation allowed the day to be a great success.

“The students did an amazing job. They responded brilliantly, and conducted and presented an event that the participants will always remember,” says CPUT Sports Coordinator, Quinton Summers.

The event was run in conjunction with the Service Learning Unit.

By Nurahn Ryklief

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Business Faculty is set to grow their partnership with the Johnson and Wales University in America.

Established in 2009, the partnership sees sports, tourism and hospitality students from America visit CPUT and interact with lecturers and students in the Sport Management and Hospitality Departments.

TOUR: Students toured the Granger Bay Campus and got an inside look into the training facilities for the Maritime Engineering Programmes

So far the partnership has proved to be a success, says Sport Management lecturer Brendon Knott.

“It is important for our students to a have a broader international context for their studies, especially with sport, tourism and hospitality being subjects that require an understanding of the international world and visitors from other nations,” he says.

However, CPUT is now looking at growing the partnership and exploring opportunities for staff and students to visit the American institution.

Prof Ronald Blum from Johnson and Wales University says they are eager to host CPUT.

Currently, a group of 24 students are in Cape Town and have spent time at the Granger Bay campus.

Prof Blum says their students have benefited from this programme.

 “We can learn from one another,” he says.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The sound of Vuvuzelas rang out on Mowbray Campus on 11 September 2009, as first year Sport Management students celebrated the upcoming World Cup with a campus Soccer Day.

The event, which was organised by the first years as part of their course’s practical component, was enthusiastically supported by students and staff from the Business and Education and Social Sciences Faculties, many of whom arrived dressed in the colours of their favourite team.

National Red Bull Street Style Soccer champion Chris Njokwana demonstrated a series of dazzling soccer ball stunts including ‘around the world’ where the player kicks, juggles and catches the ball using one foot and ‘magnets’ where the ball appears to rotate around a players head.

Njokwana invited volunteers from the audience to have a go at some street style tricks and soon students and lecturers were showing off knee taps and other moves like football pros.

“Do you think we’re ready for 2010?” shouted Sport Management lecturer Juanita Stoop.

“Yes,” screamed the crowd, waving their flags and vuvuzelas.

Njokwana, who is currently on a nationwide tour to promote the Red Bull Worldwide Freestyle Soccer Contest was impressed with the spirit of the CPUT audience.

“This is the best live crowd we’ve had,” he said.

The day’s activities continued with a goal shooting competition and a soccer tournament that featured a number of student teams as well as a lecturers’ team.

Student Anelisa Jubisa, sporting top-to-toe Orlando Pirates gear, beat some serious competition from Kaiser Chiefs supporters to take home the award for best fan.

The CPUT Sport Management Department has urged all its students to volunteer to assist at the 2010 World Cup. According to Stoop, the planning, organising, risk management, marketing and public relations skills the first years acquired by managing the Soccer Day will be essential for those who participate in the 2010 programme.

“By exposing them to some hands on event planning and organising, they will have a very small idea of the effort one has to put in order to organise a World Cup event,” she said.

“This will allow them to think critically and with innovation when it comes to their volunteer work next year.”

By Ilana Abratt

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

As the Fifa 2010 World Cup ™ draws closer, CPUT staff and students will get the chance to show their soccer spirit by participating in the University’s multi-campus Football Frenzy campaign.

The campaign, a joint initiative between the Sport Management, Student Affairs and Marketing and Communication Departments, was launched on 5 February on Mowbray Campus, with over sixty energetic staff and students participating in a mass Diski dance.

The dance, developed by South African Tourism as a way of building fellowship among local and international soccer fans, pays tribute to the special flare found in local football. The steps incorporate football-style moves such as the ‘Header’, ‘Juggle’ and ‘Table Mountain’.

The Diski dance has been performed in international locations from London’s Trafalgar Square to Hong Kong’s Times Square, as well as at local landmarks, such as the top of Table Mountain.

Mowbray-based Sport Management Lecturer Brendon Knott, one of the Football Frenzy campaign coordinators, was among the CPUT Diski participants. His campaign team, which includes coordinators representing Bellville, Cape Town, Wellington and Granger Bay, will roll out similar football support events on other campuses over the course of the World Cup run-up period.

Knott said CPUT’s initiative was part of the Western Cape’s campaign to engage all citizens in the province around the 2010 World Cup.

“It also aims to promote a sense of national pride and broaden knowledge and awareness of the event and sport in general,” he said.

Knott added the campaign will additionally benefit the University by promoting health awareness and physical activity and will provide opportunities for teambuilding and cohesion among staff and students, as well as between campuses.

He also noted that some of the events will be co-ordinated by Sport Management students, who will use the opportunity to practise some of the organisational skills they will need use in their future careers.

A major part of the campaign is the weekly Football Friday Frenzy, in which staff and students are encouraged to come to campus dressed in soccer supporters’ gear. Specially designed Football Frenzy T-shirts will be available from campaign coordinators from the beginning of next month.

On 1 March 2010, Student Affairs will hold a CPUT Football Frenzy Market and Fun Day on Cape Town campus. The event will tie in with there being 100 days to go until the start of the World Cup and will include food stalls, activities and a concert by guest artists.

For enquires about Football Frenzy activities, contact one of the campaign coordinators:

• Cape Town: Anette Grobler (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and Quinton Summers (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
• Bellville: Catherine Cloete (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Mastura Jardine (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and Shela Lekalakala (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
• Mowbray: Brendon Knott (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and Jacob Moroe (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
• Wellington: Tyrone Africa (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and Etienne Joubert (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
• Granger Bay: Luke van Rensburg (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

By Ilana Abratt

Written by CPUT News

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A pilot study led by one of CPUT’s top academics demonstrates the benefits of rooibos for individuals at high altitudes.

Professor Simeon Davies, HoD: Sport Management, recently led a pilot study to investigate the role of Rooibos supplementation on humans during an expedition to the summit of Aconcagua, Argentina, which at 6962m is the highest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere.

The study assessed the prophylactic benefits of rooibos supplementation at high altitude, and ascertained why individuals make decisions to participate in extreme sport or adventure activities.

Exercise at high altitude induces a high degree of oxidative stress, which is often associated with High Altitude Sickness (HAS).

Many climbers who ascend to high altitudes often need to take prescription drugs to combat this.

The pilot study latches onto published research findings by the CPUT’s Oxidative Stress Research Centre led by Prof Jeanine Marnewick, which suggests that rooibos antioxidant compounds could have beneficial outcomes for high altitude climbers.

The research project involved eight participants who last month formed part of an expedition team climbing Aconcagua.

The research project will also forms part of a submission to the NRF South Africa/Argentina Joint Science and Technology Research Project at a later stage.

“It is exciting to think that a South African indigenous plant such as rooibos may be a natural way to attenuate (weaken) the effects of HAS, and provide a viable alternative to the use of prescription drugs,” says Davies.

Written by Kwanele Butana
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup may be over, but for a team of global researchers, their work has just begun.

Prof Kamilla Swart from the Tourism and Events Management Department and Brendon Knott from the Sport Management Department, form part of a team of researchers who are studying the economic impact of the soccer event as well as spectator behavior during the tournament.

The CPUT researchers, along with the rest of the research team, spent two weeks in Rio de Janeiro where they fielded surveys among spectators and conducted interviews with representatives of national and local organizers.

The questionnaires were available in Portuguese, English, French, German, Spanish, Korean, Italian, Russian, Arabic and Farsi and more than 6 000 were completed.

The data was collected in match precincts and public viewing areas in five designated host cities, namely Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Porto Allegre and Salvador.

“Given that the 2014 World Cup was hosted by another emerging country, Brazil, this research study has important implications for several stakeholder groups including FIFA and future World Cup host cities and sponsors,” says Prof Kamilla Swart, who in 2010 led a similar study when South Africa hosted this event.

Currently the study is led by Prof Holger Preuss, a sport economist from Johaness Gutenberg-Universtat, Germany who led the 2006 World Cup impact study.

Written by Kwanele Butana
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Sport Management Department is involved in ground-breaking training with the Ekso Bionic Suit which enables people with spinal cord injuries to walk.

Developed by Ekso Bionics in London, the Ekso suit is strapped over the user’s clothing with adjustments to suit the patient’s height and weight.

Walking is achieved when the user’s weight shifts and activates sensors in the device which initiate steps. It is the motors which are powered by battery that drive the legs.

Staff members of the department’s Human Performance Lab were recently trained and certified by the company’s London-based trainers to operate the suit.

The suit which is used by the lab’s staff has been hired from the company by Andrew Merryweather, who has been undergoing rehabilitation and therapy in the lab since his accident in 2006 which left him with severe spinal cord injuries.

The suit, one of only two in Africa, has also been tried by other accident survivors free of charge.

“We invited other people with spinal cord injuries and they came to try the Ekso out, including a lady who had not walked for 24 years,” says Dr Sacha West, the lab’s co-ordinator.

West says Merryweather will only have the suit for about a month before he returns to the Ekso Bionics. He has been renting it for $4200 per month since October, as the suit costs almost R1 million.

“It will be a big shame to lose the suit,” says West.

Merryweather says that since he started training in the suit his body has grown a lot stronger.

“I’m beginning to feel sensation in left foot, my walking pattern has improved and now I can walk in the swimming pool unassisted.”

Written by Kwanele Butana
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.