SASAPD Nationals offer para athletes chance to qualify for Commonwealth Games

The SASAPD Nationals will take place in Stellenbosch from 27 to 31 March while the 23rd Commonwealth Games will be in Scotland from July 23 to 02 August.

Speaking to SABC Sport, Miggels says there will also be athletes from Lesotho who will also be hoping to use the nationals to qualify for the Games.

"This is a super dynamic championship. We are having athletics which is a sanctioned event. What happened at athletics is that athletes will have an opportunity to better their rankings that's why it's called a sanctioned event. We have athletes coming from Lesotho as well coming to better their ranking because, as we know, there's the Commonwealth Games approaching. At these national championships, athletes will have an opportunity to qualify for the Commonwealth Games," says Miggels

READ: Roger Haitengi declares CGA Provincial Championships at UJ a success

In para sports, there is a system called  Classification which determines which athletes are eligible to compete in a sport and how those athletes are then grouped together for competition in order to minimise the impact of the athletes' impairments on sport performance.

The president adds that there will be classification workshops for both the coaches and the athletes.

Athletes like the World Para Athletics champion Puseletso Mabote and Paralympic gold medalist Mpumelelo Mhlongo all started their journey at the nationals.

Miggels says she’s excited to discover more talented athletes this year.

Team South Africa made its debut in Boccia at the 2024 Paralympics and in this year’s nationals, SASAPD is introducing goalball, a sport for para athletes who are visually impaired.

Miggels adds why it is essential for the federation to keep introducing more sporting codes.

"We want people to know that they must look forward to the National Championships. It's not just the National Championships but it's something where you say you want to see what will be implemented."