BBSA/IFBB Gauteng North Novice Show 2012

 Built in Classical Italian style, surrounded by landscaped gardens and walkways, thePretoria City Hall is where the annual North Gauteng Novice Championship was hosted.The spacious hall started to fill up at 15h30, people of all ages came to give their support to the novice athletes and by 17h00 the crowd was bustling with excitement forthe show to start. Gloria Mashigo, Chairlady of IFBB Gauteng North opened the show with a warm welcome to audience members, officials,VIP's and athletes.

The first line-up to come on stage was the Juniors U/18 where Naude Peens and LukeWare were up against each other. As first comers to the bodybuilding stage, theycertainly didn't disappoint. Luke Ware came in second to Naude Peens who took the title. The U/23 under 75kg division was up next with a strong impressive line-up ofathletes. Although all individuals showed promising results, it was Jason du Preez whowalked away as the winner of this category. Pieter Naude secured second place and Makweya Sepota came in third.

All eyes were glued to the stage when the 1st ladies division was announced. The LadiesBody Fitness line-up  brought the more muscular female physiques to stage. These ladies presented postures and poses in an elegant style, making the high level ofcompetition evident. It was a tough decision to make and the panel of judges finally awarded second place to Sandra Joubert and the winning title to Bronwyn PeytonRichardson.

Returning to the Mens divisions- the U/23 over 75kg category provided the audience with some great entertainment. Athletes presented energetic, lively routines that kept theaudience engaged. Kirk Wentworth took to the stage with confidence, mixing a fewdance moves in between his poses. Aneurin Wentzel proved to be strong competitiongiving an equally impressive performance but Kirk ultimately took home the winners trophy.

An important highlight of the evening was when IFBB executive officials wererewarded with badges/ribbons to acknowledge their positions within the federation.Among them were Chisto van Wyk, James Moorcroft and Roelf Faurie. Michelle Priceand Nina Richter were also rewarded for their participation in the Arnold Classic in2011, especially Nina, for taking the title as overall winner. Both ladies were praised forrepresenting South Africa, and for being proud ambassadors for our country.Announced as a 'treat' for the evening, the Fitness Bikini lineup was just that. Bronzedbeauties strutted their stuff for the judges while getting positive response from thespectators. Claudia Morris impressed with her perfectly toned physique, securing her infirst place. Laetitia Ryker placed second with Hester Conradi rounding up the top 3.

After the break the audience waited in anticipation for the beach bikini girls to grace thestage. The very competitive Beach Bikini lineupshowed that all that glitters IS gold in this