It is a weekday. The morning dew is melting and Johannesburg is still half asleep. The relative calm is peaceful before the storm of the day hits. However, no calm for Annemie Bester. Where she turns into Emirates Airline Park – still called Ellis Park by the fans – she does not want to be anywhere else. What lies ahead is scrumming, mauls, practising, and tough going in preparation for the weekend when everyone is going to pitch in to make tough things happen.
Rugby is on the menu for this former lecturer in Communication from the North-West University.
She is as unique as a hat trick of tries; one of the few women journalists who has succeeded in changing the preconceived ideas about reporting on this sport. Completely. Her expertise and writing skills have made her a formidable writer since she was very young, and later on, she also showed her mettle as a media officer for the Leopards and Lions Rugby Unions.
But Annemie’s story is still a bit different.
Only a few people who know her and even fewer of the rest know that Annemie grew up in South Africa and in the United States. Sasolburg, Los Angeles, Secunda, Newcastle – there she wandered through the streets as a young woman.
She cut her teeth at the Beeld daily by writing about the “minor” sports: “I raised my hand for everything that the men did not want to write about. Therefore I wrote about every kind of sport – even clay pigeon shooting.”
But she wanted to write about rugby. “However, this was reserved for the top sportswriters.” So she became one. Over many cups of coffee with Eugene Eloff in Cresta – then under 21 coach of the Lions – she learned more about the game and mastered its finer points. She was also one of the first journalists who helped her readers develop an interest in women’s rugby.
A career in ink and digitally followed before she dug her heels in as media officer at the Lions. It is at the latter where she currently – as always – makes a big impression.
“My best rugby moment was undoubtedly the Vodacom Super Rugby final in 2017 against the Crusaders that we presented. It was an absolutely perfect day regarding planning and preparation. We had 62 000 spectators in die stadium and a host of foreign media. It was a 100% perfect day. It was also full of emotion, as it was Johan Ackerman’s last match as coach.”
A red card against Kwagga Smit extinguished the Lions’ fire and the Crusaders won. “No-one thought that the day would end like that, as it had started off as a perfect day. It was a highlight and also a sad day, but a day that I will always remember because I am so proud of the way in which the day was presented.”
Besides rugby, her daughters are her pride and joy. She is “Mom” first and foremost, and then the mother of so many players whom she has supported during the years. It is in her blood.
Unique and formidable. She is the Iron Maiden of Emirates Park.
Annemie at her beloved Emirates Airline Park.
Annemie and Lionel Mapoe adress the media.
