First Support SASA-II Age Games Athlete
October 2018 - The 24th of September 2018 is a date that Matthew van Heerden will never forget. It was on this day that First Car Rental championed a hire car for his mum for a very special occasion, which ended in Matthew owning some gold.
Belinda van Heerden contacted First Car Rental and asked if we would partner with her to help her son, Matthew, who has Downs Syndrome, realise his dream of competing at the South African Sports Association for the Intellectually Impaired (SASA-II) National Age Group Games 2018.
The National Age Group Games is a well-attended annual event for persons with an intellectual disability. These athletes can compete in the codes of Netball, Basketball, Futsal, Athletics and Cross Country.
The 24th to the 28th September saw over 1500 athletes and officials from all 9 provinces attend the highly-competitive 2018 Games in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, which was organised by the KwaZulu-Natal Sport Association for the Intellectually Impaired (KAZNA ii) in association with the Department of Sports and Recreation, Department of Education and the eThekwini Municipality
Young Matthew, selected to represent Gauteng in the SASA-II National Age Group Games in athletics, excelled at the Games, achieving a gold medal in the u13 shotput and a bronze medal in the 100m.
Says Matthew's mom, Belinda van Heerden, "We would really just like to say a huge thank you to First Car Rental for sponsoring us a car while we were in Durban; we loved the Suzuki Swift.
Matthew excelled at the SA Games 2018; he will continue to practice and hopefully attain more medals in 2019. We plan to train hard and compete where we can and strive towards being selected for the World Games when Matthew is old enough."
Says Melissa Nortje, Executive Head: Strategy, Development and Marketing, First Car Rental, "We are very proud of Matthew. Athletes like him, competing at an elite level, not only provide role models for others, but also assist in breaking down prejudice and ignorance, which restricts the lives of people with an intellectual disability."
Press officer for KAZNA-II, Dr Kiren Gokar said in a media statement, "Sport is a crucial part of the lives of the world's population. It offers to persons with an intellectual disability the same values, pleasures and satisfaction."
First Car Rental is a proudly South African car rental company with car rental branches located nationwide. We pride ourselves on our car hire fleet that comprises of an impressive range of well-maintained vehicles ranging from no-frills models to top-of-the-range luxury cars.