Ursula Andrews Afonso - British / South African
Member of the World Paddle Awards Academy
Ursula Afonso heralds from Johannesburg, South Africa. She was selected for the World Paddle Awards Academy because of her extraordinary lifetime in paddlesports; ex-club Committee Member, fundraiser, canoe-exams writer and a paddler's 'dream' mother.
Ursula has been instrumental in supporting the career of her older brother Clifford who demonstrated real promise in competitive rowing from a young age. A few years into his rowing career Clifford had a motorcycle accident which, despite prolonged medical treatment, led to gangrenousinfection eventually resulting in amputation of his leg. Clifford continued to row, he was invited by the South African Paralympic Rowing Team but unfortunately missed out on qualification for London 2012 by 0.08 seconds in the Mixed Coxed Fours.
Clifford's son Chad Andrews has competed for South Africa in canoe polo and currently works for the sports governing body and runs a local kayak centre.
Ursula is also the proud Mother-Manager of sprint athlete Dugan Afonso – it was Clifford who introduced Dugan to K2 (two-person kayak) in 2008 and within a year he was going from second to last finishes to podium places at South African national events in K4 (four-person kayak) sprint, marathon and kayak polo. He went on to be proudly selected for the 2013 Sprint Junior World Championship in Canada amidst terrible circumstances ranging from his coach dying from cancer twinned with him being sent the wrong-sized boat for his size-14 feet. Dugan has a promising future in international kayak polo and kayak slalom.
Ursula has not only supported her son as his number one fan, she has also gone on to be involved in all areas of behind-the-scenes youth canoesport: team nurse, book-keeping for the Gauteng Canoe Union (GCU) for 3 years, GCU Committee Member, Dabulamanzi Club Committee Member, running her regional Schools League, trip-planning, race-coordinating, press managing, writing for officials' exams (sprint, marathon and polo), relentless fund-raising and, as a paddler herself, seconding on whitewater river trips (where the 'second' paddler down a river after the lead guide looks closely after weaker or novice paddlers in the middle of the pack).
Ursula is a genuine paddlesports fan who follows competitors from all over the world on a daily basis.
She dedicates her work to the memory of her late father Norman.