Cycling South Africa welcomes our newly-appointed Vice President Ciska du Plessis Austin, who has taken office from 20 February 2019. At the recent Annual General Meeting held in Pretoria, Western Cape Cycling nominated Ciska to fill the vacant position, which was welcomed by the Executive Committee.
Ciska took the position of Vice President not too long ago in June 2016 but had to withdraw from her position due to increased work commitments at the time.
Her link to the federation has spanned many years when she became involved in a cycling club in the Free State in 2002. She moved onto administration roles in the sport, where most South African road cyclists will know her as Secretary for the Cycling SA Road Commission from 2007-2009, and thereafter as the Secretary General for Cycling SA from 2010 to mid-2012.
Ciska is currently studying a Master’s Degree in European Sports Governance through the University of Limoges in France, considered the foremost programme in Sports Administration in Europe.
In her role as VP, Ciska will play a supportive role to the President and staff as well as the Executive Committee and the various Commissions. “Governance of the sport is key to me and I will work closely with our Secretary General especially to ensure all processes are respected and where needed, I will assist to put it in place.”
She will also work closely with all the board members as well as staff to ensure performance and assessment of resources in all the areas as well as providing training and guidance.
Ciska believes that “any federation should be athlete-centric”.
“Cyclists are the core of our organisation at Cycling SA. As it is our responsibility as a federation to determine and drive achievable strategies for the future of our cyclists, I hope I can play a small role in doing this and to see us succeed beyond imagination.”
