{"id":97618,"date":"2015-08-24T12:05:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-24T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/97618\/veteran-boxers-reminisce\/"},"modified":"2015-08-24T11:37:47","modified_gmt":"2015-08-24T09:37:47","slug":"veteran-boxers-reminisce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/sports-news\/2015\/08\/24\/veteran-boxers-reminisce\/","title":{"rendered":"Veteran boxers reminisce"},"content":{"rendered":"

The East Rand Veterans Boxing Association (ERVBA) celebrated its 26th year in existence, at the Primrose Bowling Club, on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club was established in 1989 and it has been going from strength to strength,\u201d said the association\u2019s chairman, Nigel Pera.<\/p>

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\u201cWe try to assist as many former boxers as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong other things, we help with medical, rental, electricity and funeral costs.<\/p>

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\u201cWe really try to help where we can.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are one of the three associations in the country, there is one in Pretoria and another in Durban.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are actually the youngest association; the Durban group was formed in 1968 and then, years later, the one in Pretoria followed. On August 9, 1989, ERVBA came to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The members of the association meet every month at the Primrose Bowling Club.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have meetings every second Thursday of the month,\u201d said the association\u2019s public relations officer, Willie Stols.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe usually have a guest speaker at our meetings and, afterwards, we talk about boxing with refreshments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among those present was Charlemagne Sam, also known as Charl.<\/p>\n

Sam was Alberton\u2019s first Springbok, in 1958, at the British Empire Commonwealth Games in Wales.<\/p>\n

He was a boxer for 18 years and is one of the founders of ERVBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to see every province in the country have a veteran boxing association,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dinwiddie resident Jaap van Nieuwenhuizen also attended the celebration.<\/p>\n

Van Nieuwenhuizen is one of the oldest and most highly recommended boxing referees in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started as an amateur referee in 1979 and became a professional referee in 1988, and I am still going hard at it,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love my job, I have always wanted to be a referee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love this sport and the boxers; they are actually humble people as, after every fight, they shake hands and they are friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am also a judge; it really is great to work with people with good sportsmanship.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn boxing you make friends and not enemies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you to all the boxing supporters and to my wife, Rieka, for always being by my side, she is at every tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pera also thanked the two sponsors of the event\u2019s raffle prizes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you to Mug and Bean at East Rand Mall and Al-Italiana Foods in Boksburg for sponsoring us with two vouchers each for our fund-raising raffle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just want to have fun and keep the boxing memories alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the sport, I also love the current boxers and also respect those who have been in it for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking forward to 26 more years of growth and prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n

To join the association, or for more information, visit the website at www.ervba.co.za, or send an email to eastrandveterans@gmail.com.<\/p>\n