Ken Borland

A quick question, if you will.
When did the position of Springbok captain become downgraded to one in which the office-bearer is not allowed to speak on matters of major national interest, especially in terms of rugby?
The furore that has greeted Siya Kolisi’s comments on transformation and quotas has been rife with suggestions that it is not his place to talk about such matters.
Which is absolute nonsense.
I would far rather listen to Kolisi’s views on the subject because he is most affected by it; as a player he is at the coalface of the whole transformation debate. I would far rather listen to Kolisi, surely the embodiment of what transformation hopes to achieve, than either a politician, who lies most of the time and is unwilling to actually do the hard work required to change our society, or an administrator, who in this country is generally self-serving and sadly divorced from the realities of professional sport.
It’s typical of our easily distracted political discourse that everyone has focused on Kolisi’s comments about Nelson Mandela not supporting quotas. It’s not a viewpoint I agree with, my recollection of the 1990s being that Mandela certainly supported efforts to ensure all-White teams did not represent South Africa anymore.
But it’s not the most important thing Kolisi was saying. With respect to the late great Madiba, who did more for sports unity in this country than anyone, his views on quotas are really not relevant anymore. Our society, by and large, has changed so much.
And yet the demographics of our national teams (excluding football) still don’t really reflect this. And it’s because of the other, way more important, issues that Kolisi raised.
It’s hard to believe sometimes when you see the super-athlete that Kolisi has become, and how inspiring and authoritative a figure he is when speaking, that he grew up in poverty. Taking the big hits on a rugby field is probably nothing compared to the feelings of hunger and hopelessness he must have felt before rugby so dramatically changed his life.
Kolisi mentions in his interview with Kyodo News that if he hadn’t have been given a bursary to Grey High in Port Elizabeth he would never have been a professional rugby player, never mind Springbok captain.
South African sport – and especially our rapaciously opportunistic politicians and administrators – owes our Model C schools a tremendous debt of gratitude because they have mostly been driving transformation ever since the 1990s.
Which brings us to the crux of Kolisi’s comments. He is one of the fortunate few to be given the opportunity to fulfil his God-given talent and he made the most of it through tremendous hard work and strength of character. But what of the millions of other township kids who are lost?
One cannot expect them to compete on a level playing field when they are struggling for regular meals, they have no facilities and even getting to practices and games is a major issue.
This is where transformation should be focused and not on the numbers that are so beloved by two-faced, box-ticking politicians and administrators.
It is a sad fact though that many White South Africans have a tough time rating Black players fairly, and Kolisi will no doubt be aware that there are some who believe he is not worthy of his place in the Springbok team.
To blindly stick to a quota system and to not concentrate efforts on ensuring there is a level playing field – equal opportunity – all through the pipeline, is only going to feed into that sort of bigotry.
Our Black sportspeople don’t need quotas to make it; they just need fair opportunity and a level playing field. But that’s going to take hard work from our grandstanding politicians and administrators.

Glendower Golf Club was confirmed on Wednesday as the venue for next year’s South African Open … and a most unlikely golfer went in to bat for the Edenvale course that will host the second-oldest national open for the third straight year.

Charl Schwartzel has led in the final round of the two previous SA Opens held at Glendower, in January this year and in November 2013, but on both occasions it ended in tears.

Schwartzel squandered four shots in the last five holes of the 2015 SA Open and then lost on the first hole of the playoff to Andy Sullivan as his wayward tee-shot went miles off track. The previous Glendower SA Open saw Schwartzel leading by three shots four holes into the final round, before he faded to a 71 after a triple-bogey on the sixth and a double on 10, and finished three behind winner Morten Orum Madsen.

“I’m excited to come back here because I don’t see it as being two disappointments. I see it as a course that has treated me well, for two years in a row I had chances to win, but there are a lot of very good players out there. Glendower suits me well, and to know that I came so close to winning here is a positive because now I have another opportunity.

“You have to play cleverly here, think your way around, it requires a lot of strategy and thinking, which is right down my alley. Modern-day courses are often wide open and they allow guys to get away with playing badly, the course plays into so many hands. But you don’t have that freedom here, if you don’t stick to the right lines here then the course will catch you,” Schwartzel said at Glendower on Wednesday.

Schwartzel is known for putting in an enormous amount of preparation and strategizing when it comes to the major golf tournaments and he said he would be returning to Glendower a couple of weeks before the 105th South African Open tees off on January 7.

“The four Majors are by far the most important tournaments and you obviously focus more on those, but this tournament obviously has some degree of importance for me as well. Personally, it’s the same as the Majors and other big tournaments for me in that I prepare the same. Ninety-five percent of our tournaments are at sea-level, but here you’re at 5000 feet and it makes a big difference in club-selection.

“So preparation is important, I want to get comfortable with the course even though I know it well, make sure about the lines off the tee. It’s how I prepare for the Majors and if you do that then the expectation goes away and you’re able to handle the pressure.

“I hope it works out, but if it doesn’t I’ll try again. I can only control what I do and if someone plays better than me then so be it,” Schwartzel, who has never won the SA Open, said.

The 2011 Masters champion said he hoped the SA Open would remain the sort of tournament children are told about when they sit on the knees of their grandfathers.

“When you see the passion of Ernie Els [tournament host] to play in it, it’s inspiring for the future generations. I hope guys like Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace feel the same as me, because I’m going to keep coming back and give it my all,” Schwartzel said.

In the meantime, the 31-year-old will be back on the farm in Deneysville – his mom Lizette’s whole family is in farming, anything from corn to wheat to dairy to chickens and pigs – and, perhaps controversially, will not be playing in the first two co-sanctioned events, the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

“I’m not playing any tournaments in December, I didn’t get into the Nedbank Golf Challenge, so it will be a nice long break and I feel I need it,” Schwartzel said.

The 105th South African Open Championship will again be proudly hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni, with a new title sponsor in BMW, and it will again have Els as tournament host/player.

“Sports such as motorsport, sailing and golf are key global sponsorship pillars for the BMW brand. With this in mind, this local sponsorship initiative – which mirrors the brand’s global sponsorship strategy – sees BMW become the overall naming rights partner of the SA Open Championship. In addition, it gives the brand the opportunity to consolidate its position in golf with a signature event that we hope will grow over time to become the biggest professional event in South African golf,” said Tim Abbott, the managing director of the BMW group in South Africa.

Hockey being a largely amateur pursuit in South Africa has led to the implementation of delicate balancing acts by our national teams, but if one player stands out for their ability to juggle the demands of work and playing international sport then it is women’s goalkeeper Phumelela Mbande.

Mbande was the star of South Africa’s World Cup campaign in London last week, and was named player of the match for her sensational display in salvaging a 1-1 draw with world number three Argentina. But like Wonder Woman changing into the work clothes of Diana Prince, her civilian identity, Mbande takes off her pads, glove and chest protection and, when she returns to South Africa, will continue slogging away at her ‘real job’.

The 25-year-old is a qualified chartered accountant and is busy doing her articles with Price Waterhouse Coopers, a daunting enough task on its own without having the added ‘burden’ of ensuring she remains South Africa’s first-choice goalkeeper.

“It’s definitely not easy doing both, but there have been so many people willing to help, especially my varsity coaches at Tuks and PWC, I always say how lucky I am that everyone is willing to meet halfway. It’s been very tough and it has been a huge learning curve for me as a person, but I’m grateful for all the help I’ve had to make it easier,” Mbande says.

Hailing from Pietermaritzburg, Mbande started playing hockey in Grade V at Lynford Primary School and the challenge of being the goalkeeper and having a hard object fired at you from close range was appealing from the outset. Mbande agrees that it takes a special type of person to want to be a hockey goalkeeper.

“In all the teams you see, the goalkeeper is usually a standout character, you certainly won’t miss us!” Mbande laughs. “The position definitely suits me personality-wise, I’m a typical first-born, I like to get my way and I’m pretty independent. Goalkeepers are part of the team but we think of ourselves as a team within the team. Being goalkeeper has definitely allowed my personality to bloom.”

Mbande then went to Carter High School and she singles out the arrival of Marie-Laure Johnson as a teacher there when she was in Grade VII as being pivotal in her development.

“If there’s one person who has been a major influence then it’s Marie-Laure, who basically adopted me. During the World Cup now I went to visit her mother who lives in Stratford and that just shows the great relationship we have. She encouraged me to go and play at Collegians, where I was by far the youngest at the club, but I was able to be coached by Brian Edwards [former national captain who coached both the men’s and women’s national teams].

“Marie-Laure would give me lifts to the airport, bought me my first own kit and, outside of hockey, played a huge role in my life. She was definitely more than a coach to me, she’s a mentor and a friend.”

Mbande’s academic excellence earned her a PWC bursary to the University of Pretoria, where she also received a sports bursary, and she made her debut for South Africa in 2013. Initially she was playing in the considerable shadow of Sanani Mangisa, one of the country’s greatest goalkeepers, a double Olympian capped 112 times between 2006 and 2016.

“It felt like a great achievement to start out under Sanani because she was the first hockey personality I really looked up to, after she coached me in Grade VIII. She noticed one of my strengths was how hard I can kick the ball and it was awesome to come into the national team with her still there.

“But it was also very disappointing not to make the squads for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and World Cup. But I’ve learned quite a bit since then and I’m definitely a better goalkeeper now, I manage pressure better. But I still wish I had more time in the national team with Sanani,” Mbande says.

With the continued support of her mother, the shoulder she has cried on the most, Mbande says, and her two younger brothers, the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo are the next big sporting goal for one of the new stars of South African hockey.

“This was the first World Cup I’ve played in, so I was pretty excited to play so well and end on a high after we did not start so well. Considering everything that’s available to South African hockey teams, the Olympics are definitely top of the food chain and I would love to make it to Tokyo.

“But it’s one step at a time and God willing and if my employers allow it, then the Olympics will be my next big thing. Maybe one or two of the players will retire before then, but we still have a good group of players and massive talent, and two years is a good period in which to build.”

Mbande will be at the forefront of those plans and the excellence and determination she brings to all her endeavours can only be good for the game.

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-kzn/20180804/281492162131681

Farhaan Behardien has been playing for the Multiply Titans since 2006 and, even if his fortunes at national level have dived, his true value has been recognised by his franchise as he walked away with four trophies at the annual awards evening.

Behardien’s stellar season – he averaged 80 in the Sunfoil Series, 48.55 in the Momentum One-Day Cup and 234 in the RamSlam T20 Challenge – saw him claim the coveted Player of the Year, T20 Player of the Year, the First-Class Player of the Year and the Most Valuable Player of the Year awards.

“It’s something really special and the culmination of 12 years of hard work, a very proud moment for me. The Titans have done really well this season which has given me the platform to perform. Apart from playing a few amateur games for Western Province, I have been a one-club man and I have a passion for the Titans.

“Hopefully I can play for them for a few more years. After 12 years of playing, I kind of feel like I’ve got my doctorate now. Initially I was only able to provide glimpses and I seem to be the guy everyone loves to hate, I’ve been abused a lot. But I’m grateful to the Titans because they stuck with me.

“All that experience has now come together and is building to a head. There has always been some amazing talent at the Titans, and hopefully in a few years people will look back to myself, Heino Kuhn, Albie Morkel, Henry Davids, as being legends for the best franchise in the world. Heino and I are probably the only cricketers in the world to have won 14 domestic trophies,” Behardien said.

In one of the Titans’ greatest seasons, Behardien has been the glue in the middle-order, time and again playing the situation perfectly to be the matchwinner across all three formats.

“I’m strictly a middle-order bat and playing the situation asks tough questions of you but it’s part and parcel of the position I play. You learn to deal with it much better, whatever situation is in front of me, I just try and maximise my runs in however many balls I have. When you have not too long left in your career, you also tend to play with freedom,” Behardien said.

Behardien has lost his national contract and seems to be on the periphery of new Proteas coach Ottis Gibson’s plans, but don’t write off the 34-year-old just yet: his desire to play international cricket is as strong as ever and he remains one of the most successful and consistent batsmen in South African cricket.

“Whatever game is put in front of me, I just try and perform really well. Whenever the Titans have called, in whatever format, all three of them, in different situations, I’ve still managed to produce the goods. So I’ll be disappointed if I no longer get higher honours.

“I would love to go to next year’s World Cup, I can see myself at Lord’s scoring a hundred off 120 balls. That World Cup is a massive ambition of mine because I never played too much of a role in the previous world cups I went to. I would love to be part of that squad, but that’s up to the powers that be,” Behardien said.

http://www.titans.co.za/index.php/categories-1-layout/item/838-behardien-s-stellar-season