Malawian storyteller Upile Chisala said, “There is danger in letting people misname you. If you are a fire, do not answer when they call you a spark.”
From 6 – 8 March 2020, 25 women in sport from around the country gathered for a three-day Women in Sport Leadership Training hosted by South African Women and Sport Foundation (SAWASF) and facilitated by the Women Sport Leadership Academy (WSLA) from University of Chichester and the Anita White Foundation (AWF).
I had the privilege to attend the training and truly believe that it was such an exceptional experience. Something many people often forget is that it becomes easy for your own voice in promoting women in sport to be drowned out by other people.
Each day at our training, I became more and more comfortable in my own voice and began understanding why it was so important to do my small bit in order to move forward our movement. The reason for this was the constant affirmation from the various participants attending the workshop with me, knowing that we all are working towards a common goal.
There was no better way to spend my International Women’s Day then with women who I look up to and continuously appreciate. Every story a different one but equally compelling, I know each one of us are better leaders today because of the countless learning experiences we took from our weekend training.
From treasure hunting in the streets of Hatfield to tackling real life scenarios and building networks but most importantly making lifelong friendships. I salute you all, facilitators and participators it would not have been this enriching without you!
As the close of the training neared, my fellow participants and I had the task of choosing five words that encompassed what leadership meant to us. We came up with the following: Visionary, Integrity, Ubuntu (Compassion), Self-Aware/ness, Inspirational.
These words may be nouns but I hope to make them doing words, after this weekend I can confidently say as a leader I will not answer when they call me a spark because I know that I am an eternal burning fire.
Photo 1 Caption: Women in sport from around the country gathered for a three-day Women in Sport Leadership Training hosted by South African Women and Sport Foundation (SAWASF) and facilitated by the Women Sport Leadership Academy (WSLA) from University of Chichester and the Anita White Foundation (AWF) in Johannesburg, Gauteng from 6-8 March 2020. Photo: Supplied/Kimara Singh
With editing by gsport
(0 rating, 0 votes, rated)
Loading...
