A hero's welcome awaited the U/14 netball team from Tshiawelo High last week when they returned from the SA Netball Championships. The team won the U/14 Ubuntu section of the tournament, held in Boksburg at the EG Jansen Secondary School.
The national championships took place from 5 to 8 August. According to the team's coach, Ms Sarah Singo, the team members were going all out to bring back the trophy. "We knew we would be the winners," she said. "We have got a winning formula, which is practise, practise and practise!"
She told Limpopo Mirror that they had started with preparations a long time ago and added that winning for them had not come as a surprise. "We are celebrating the success that had come through hard work," she said. Singo said the fact that they did not have the same facilities as other schools had not deterred them.
A special function was held last Friday to welcome the winning team back. During the event, the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture in Vhembe's Director, Mr Collins Thagalu Thovhakale, said that sport without education was nothing. "You can be a star today and be written off the following day. Education will never forsake you, and you can bank on it," he added.
He said young ones must regards stars as role models, irrespective of whether they were educated or not.
"This is the team that is making the Vhembe District and province proud," said the Elim circuit manager, Mr Jacobus Rantsu. "Sport is an equaliser in that a team from rural Limpopo can still beat any team that has all the sports amenities. Having said that, it doesn't mean that we have to ignore building and offering any support, so that they can be the best athletes in the world," he added.