June this year saw the creation of the RYOBI #WontQuitCrew, and a search for South Africa’s next sporting generation of stars looking to take their careers to the next level with the help of three significant sporting mentors.
To vote for your favourite team, click on through to the Won’t Quit Crew site. Not only will you improve your favourite athlete’s chance of winning the main prize of R50 000 cash, but by casting your vote you could also be chosen to win a RYOBI RG-6900K Generator. More info on the terms and conditions can be found below.
How the voting works:
The voting will consist of 3 main phase:
- The public phase where votes can be cast at co.za
- The mentor phase where the mentors will assess the progress of each athlete
- The brand phase where RYOBI will assess each athlete’s story and score them accordingly
Public voting phase to take place from Friday 11th November until Sunday 20th November. The announcement of the winner will take place on RYOBI’s online channels on Wednesday the 23rd of November.
Recapping the team’s stories:
Team Dlamini (Gabi Salgado)
2022 was set to be footballer Gabi Salgado’s biggest year of her career. As part of the high flying Banyana Banyana squad, she suffered a devastating injury prior to the 2022 Women’s AFCON tournament.
While her teammates went on to lift the trophy, Gabi had to resign herself to painstaking rehabilitation, and hoping she could regain fitness and confidence to make it back to the field of play. It was a goal she didn’t quit on, seeing her return with a bang for her club side JVW, and then get straight back into the national side for the monumental match versus the Australian women’s team in London.
Team Lerena (Tulani Mbenge)
Tulani ‘Tuz’ Mbenge was one of many athletes sidelined by the covid-19 pandemic. What made his situation worse was that he had just come off unlucky split decision loss, and instead of being able to avenge this result, he could only sit by as time passed by. He used the time well though sharpening his skills and building towards a triumphant return, only to then suffer a huge personal lose outside of the ring. In true won’t quit fashion though, Tulz continued to get up and put in the hard work needed. Where many would have crumbled, he kept preparing himself for a big return and his chance has now been awarded to him as he gets his chance to claim the WBO welterweight silver belt on December 18th.
Team Ndungane (Ken Kabongo)
When lockdown hit and life as we knew it ground to a halt, Ken Kabongo needed something to do to stay active. The sport of duathlon was his choice, and within two short years he went from just getting onto a bike, to becoming the South African national champion.
This was no one-off achievement though, Ken’s sights are firmly on becoming a world champion, and in 2022 he looked to challenge himself like never before by training for an competing in his first marathon, and first major triathlon. Two events he excelled in on back to back weekends. Proving to himself that he is both physically and mentally ready to do his country proud at the 2023 World Duathlon Champs in Ibiza.
Competition Terms & Conditions:
- Registered users are entitled to one vote
- Voting closes midnight Sunday November 20th
- The judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into
- Winner must live within South Africa
- Winner will be announced publicly over @RYOBI_Africa’s social media channels