Every week, we plan to motivate you to chase your goals by sharing inspiring words from leading women in sport. This week, we are inspired by legendary South African sprinter and two-time Olympian, Geraldine Pillay, national netball squad member, Precious Mthembu and Award-winning Kenyan sports journalist, Evelyn Watta.
Learnings centre around these key themes this week: Chasing your dreams, the importance of education beyond your sporting career and learning lessons along the way.
Pillay on chasing your dreams: “In athletics it gave me the freedom to dream big and have absolutely no restrictions in where I would want to go with my achievements. And, I am grateful to this day that I had this opportunity and honour to represent South Africa at the Olympics in 2004, at various World Championships, Commonwealth Games, African Championships.
“It just gave my dreams wings and there was no limitation to that because I was not going to be restricted politically at the time and the only restriction was my inability to chase after my dreams.”
Precious Mthembu emphasises on the importance of education: “I think education is the key for all the young players. Going to school is important, especially being a female athlete in South Africa. The sports that we play is not professional, you need to have another source of income.”
Watta on learning lessons along your journey: “My dad always told me that in life you have to try and find the good in every situation you face. No matter how difficult or simple, there’s a reason and a lesson. For him it’s always keep the lesson, and move on.
“I got a chance to work for another international broadcast based in Nairobi, but I quit after several weeks, it wasn’t the right fit. When I finally got the chance to write for a new online start-up and contribute to some local newspaper, my heart was at peace and I knew this was the right fit.”
If you want to be inspired, dive into the inspirational content on gsport.co.za where we tell positive stories of women’s sport to encourage better corporate support for our athletes.
While you are there, register a free membership and tell your story to inspire another young woman.
Photo 1 Caption: South African sprinter and two-time Olympian, Geraldine Pillay, previously pictured at the second Geraldine Pillay Fun Run/Walk held in Macassar in 2015. The 100m Olympic sprinter ploughs back into the community where she grew up through sport and also runs a number of athletic programmes in the town. Photo: DistrictMail (Facebook)
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