30 Days of Youth Inspiration

30 Days of Big Dreams, Inspiration and Triumph from our favourite Women In Sport

During the past three-and-a-half months under Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa, gsport has kept to its promise of telling one inspiring story a day as we continue to raise the profile of women’s sport.

We began our series during the initial 21-day lockdown period in mid-March and it was heart-warming to see the lives we had touched by acknowledging the journeys of outstanding women in sport.

By the end of April we pushed harder to widen our net as we reached out to women in sport on the continent and around the world.

When we reflected on the month of May, we realised that we had outdone ourselves and actually told 32 stories in 31 days.

Following great success in May, #YouthMonth was an opportune time to shine the light on our rising women in sport both on and off the field.

If you missed any of these incredible stories, or just need reminding that greatness awaits you, we have gathered all the inspiration from June for you take a short walk down memory lane.

Read their stories and be inspired!

There’s no such thing as a slow start at gsport, we go for the jugular. We kickstarted our #YouthMonth coverage with 2019 Momentum gsport Awards Woman in Social Media winner, Lee-Ann Mpofu. She chats about how winning the gsport Award has encouraged her to take her career to the next level.

Youth Rhythmic Gymnast, Shannon Gardiner is targeting a successful comeback after suffering a knee injury which hampered her chances of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics. Find out more on her journey, studying law and her ambition to grow the sport in South Africa.

Daniella Rhodes is a chip off the old block. The daughter of legendary South African cricketer, Jonty Rhodes, is successfully making her mark on the hockey field in the United States for Liberty University. Like most women, don’t you dare put Daniella in a box because outside of hockey, she is majoring in fashion merchandising.

Momentum Proteas cricketer, Ayabonga Khaka, has been on a high after receiving a Presidential Award from her province, the Central Gauteng Lions and two Cricket South Africa Awards nominations. Khaka aspires to win a World Cup title with the Proteas.

Multiple Western Province cross country champion and full-time teacher, Amy Abrahams, uses her life story to inspire youth growing up in disadvantaged areas. Abrahams describes the importance of mentorship and why sponsors need to invest in up and coming athletes.

Cricket South Africa Media Manager, Sipokazi Sokanyile, is playing a significant role in the media game, which has seen her journey from intern to international media star. She loves cricket and her passion is to see women in sport thriving.

2019 African Judo champion, Michaela Whitebooi, plans to break even more boundaries. One of the boundaries she has her eyes focussed on is to make competing at the Olympics a reality.

Up and coming hockey and track star, Kayla Swarts, comes from one of South Africa’s leading sporting families. Her mother, Odessa Swarts, was a supreme sprinting talent in her time and her brother is 400m world record holder, Wayde van Niekerk. She too hopes to one day compete at the Olympic Games.

South African Olympian, Justine Palframan, is eyeing a Tokyo Olympics qualification, this after celebrating 12 years of running in the green and gold. She shares her Rio Olympics experience, breaking youth records and recovering from mental health issues.

Rising Banyana Banyana star, Kholosa Biyana, quit her day job to focus on her football career, and now she is living her dream of playing for the national team. Biyana reveals her passion for football and the importance of education.

Kovsies Netball team captain, Sikholiwe Mdletshe, believes she can inspire young girls in underprivileged communities through her initiative, Girls Got Game. Mdletshe highlights the support needed leading up to the 2023 Netball World Cup. A netball journey worth reading about.

International Olympic Committee Young Leader, Mathatho Manaka’s role to promote social development through sport in the country and communities has enabled her to touch the lives of many young athletes.

Youth Olympian, Carmie Prinsloo, is steadily becoming a household name with dominant performances in cross-country and track and field both locally and in international races. She chats about balancing education and athletics as well as lessons learnt along the way.

Youth Olympic silver medallist, Dune Coetzee, is on her way to the United States of America when she matriculates later this year. This is a beautiful story of the first SA female swimmer to win a medal at the Youth Olympics. Now she’s going bigger, she plans to build on her success with her US move.

Rising hockey player, Edith Molikoe, has a positive outlook in her pursuit of representing South Africa at the Olympics next year. The young athlete chats about her journey and aspirations.

Seventeen-year-old junior athlete, Ela Meiring, survived a near death encounter and just weeks later she competed in the Comrades Race – the Legends event, an experience which has reignited her big dream of running the 2023 Comrades Marathon.

Bravehearts team captain, Josephine Ojineme, aims to play for Nigeria one day. She highlights the lack of funding for women footballers and lessons she has learnt along the way.

Double All Africa Games gold medallist, Tiffany Keep, is eager to build on her early success. Brace yourself for the story of South Africa’s next best cyclist.

Makgosi Peloakgosi has a forensic sciences degree and is vocal about the importance of education. For now, her focus is on putting South African squash on the map. This rising professional squash star chats about drawing inspiration from black women in sport.

At the 2019 Momentum gsport Awards, Karabo Mokgalagadi, walked away with the Woman in Radio award, that achievement catapulted her career. She chats about being promoted to Sports Editor at leading North West commercial radio station, YOU FM, and reveals her five-year plan.

Zimbabwean freelance sportswriter, Tatenda Gondo, wants to turn her Sports Rifle 7/24 blog into a powerful platform, telling the stories of athletes who do not get the recognition from mainstream media. Gondo yearns for a time when women take up space in leadership roles.

Junior tennis coach and women empowerment champion, Asnath Sebati, is using her experience to help develop more players for the future. She highlights the challenges of being a black woman in sport and shares her greatest ambition.

Rising South African cricketer, Robyn Searle, speaks about joining Northerns Women’s Cricket team ahead of the 2020/21 season.

gsport Member, Nishka Sookdev, is passionate about sport and women empowerment. She speaks about why she joined the gsport community and the importance of women in sport building their brand.

Reabetswe Mpete dreams of opening her own management agency. For now, she is dedicating her time to nurturing South Africa’s athletes as SASCOC’s High Performance Coordinator. She chats about her career lessons and shares her views on the future of women’s sport.

Four-time gsport award winner, Kgothatso Montjane, regards the initiative as one that has nurtured her career and given her the platform to be a role model for young women to look up to.

Zintle Mpupha left a promising career in cricket in 2013 to take up rugby. Today, she is the Springbok Sevens Women’s Rugby captain and she believes that the current crop of female rugby players will change the face of the game for the next generation.

Three-time Commonwealth Games Medallist, Rebecca Meder, believes that her dream to represent South Africa at the Olympic Games will come when the time is right after recently falling short of an Olympic A qualifying time.

As #YouthMonth drew to a close, we shone the spotlight on gsport Content Creator, Celine Abrahams, as she celebrates one year of telling the positive story of women in sport with gsport.

If you have any suggestions of young women in sport to profile, please contact us here.