Michaela Whitebooi has sacrificed a lot to be at her best, but one thing that has always been able to push that little bit extra was her love and support from her mom. With Mother’s Day around the corner, Whitebooi is now a household name in Judo in South Africa and has described how her mother, Minnie, has been the main source of her inspiration.
“She is my hero and my biggest supporter. With her by my side, no matter what the outcome is of my sports events, I feel like a champion. She prays for me, she believes in me, she motivates me to do what makes me happy and I love her so much for it,” said the 28-year-old on just what her mother means to her.
The Gqeberha-born athlete has been in the spotlight in recent years for her superb performances as a judoka. She has a Commonwealth gold medal to her name, as well as two African Championship titles under her belt. Achieving such success in one’s career takes a lot of grit and dedication, and she says determination is something that her mother taught her.
“Her support is what drove me to push myself when I feel like giving up. She has this unbelievable drive in herself to succeed and I got that characteristic from her.”
From the way Whitebooi speaks about her mother, it is easy to see why the two women have such a strong bond and she says her mom has instilled a courage in her that has given her the right tool to overcome any sort of adversity she is faced with.
“She is a fighter in life, no matter how difficult situations are, she comes out of it somehow. She has shown me through her life that you can make it no matter what you go through. No matter the distance I may be from her, she will always remind me that she loves me and it keeps me going.”
Whitebooi had to make the difficult decision of leaving home at the tender age of 14 years old in a bid to become a successful judoka as she was headed to Tshwane. It’s safe to say, although it wasn’t an easy choice, in hindsight it has paid off. She says at the time, she imagined letting her leave for Pretoria was an extremely arduous decision for her mother to make given what a tough time her family was going through.
“Firstly for her to decide to sign those forms to let me go was a painful process. My father had passed on the year before, and I can only imagine how difficult it was for her. My mom traveled with me to Pretoria and stayed until I went to a hostel. We spent about 3 days before she left back to Gqeberha.”
The champion judoka unsurprisingly has nothing but love and admiration for her mother and has this special message to share for the most important women in her life:
“Mommy, thank you for the example you have set for me to become. I hope that someday I will be able to give you your heart desires. Thank you for all the love and care.”
SA Judoka Michaela Whitebooi’s Mothers’ Day Message to her mom, Minnie
Meanwhile, Whitebooi is hard at work like most athletes trying to book their place at the upcoming Olympic games. With just over two months to go to the Paris event, the judoka is doing all she can to make sure she will be representing her country on the World Stage in July.
However, like in the case of many athletes in South Africa, coupled with being part of an underfunded sport, Whitebooi has had to take it upon herself to raise funds. Earlier this year she called on the people of South Africa and sponsors to help her in her bid to finance her competitions and training plans.
“The crowdfunding has helped me to accumulate a small bit of funds, I haven’t managed to raise the amount as yet,” she said on how the funding is going.
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Photo Caption: Mothers can have an integral contribution in the success of athletes, and this rings true for one of SA’s top Judokas, Michaela Whitebooi, who shares how her mom Minnie how her mom Minnie has been an integral part of her successes. All Photos: Supplied
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