U25 South African wheelchair basketball player Samkelisiwe Mbatha believes that nothing comes easy in life, as she continues to push the boundaries as a para athlete.
The 21-year-old from Ndwedwe is currently involved in wheelchair tennis, having previously played netball in primary school before she became differently abled.
Journeying through her difficulties and the many challenges that she faces, Mbatha has high hopes that she is going above and beyond to achieve.
One of her dreams is to see the South African women’s wheelchair basketball team represent the country at the Paralympic Games, after they tastes the competition at the previous Commonwealth Games – a tournament she regards as her career highlight to date.
Speaking with gsport Writer Tlamelo Kganakga, Mbatha chats more about her journey and shares advice to women who aspire to get into sport.
Hi Samkelisiwe, thank you for chatting to us! Please tell us about yourself and where you are from.
Hi, my name is Samkelisiwe Mbatha. I’m 21 years of age turning 22 in July. I’m a young girl from Ndwedwe and I’m a wheelchair basketball player
When and where did your love for sport begin and why basketball in particular?
My love for sport started when I was very young in primary school. I used to play netball before I became differently abled and I fell in love with basketball in 2013 in Open Air School. I was doing it as my extra mural activity and since then I loved basketball.
You are part of the U25 Women’s national team. How did that come about?
Being in the U25 team came when there were scouts in Pretoria. We were actually playing provincial school games and the scouts saw that I had talent in me that I could showcase in the under 25 team.
What are some of the challenges you have face and how did you overcome them?
The challenges I face are when it comes to training. I stay in Ndwedwe and when we are having our training in Mlazi, training starts at 17:00 and ends at 19:00, by that time there’s no transport to go back home. I will always have to ask from teammates to sleep for a night so that the next day I can go home and the other challenge is not owning playing chair. All the time you will have to borrow from people who own chairs.
What has been some of your career highlights?
Wow my career highlight is been selected to represent my country at the Commonwealth Games, that was the biggest highlight of my career.
Who are some of the sportswomen you admire and why?
Basically I have been inspired by two women, Sthabile Myandu and Alani Ferreira. What inspires me about them is that no matter what disability you have you still can play sport.
What does it mean to be a young woman South Africa?
To be a young woman in South Africa to me, it means a lot because there are more young women out there that I inspire. So I need to do more of what I do in order to bring change.
What are your hopes for the youth of South Africa?
My hope is change and more job opportunities because most young people are unemployed and doing drugs, and that kills the future of the youth of South Africa.
What has been some of the lessons you have learned in your journey?
The lesson I have learned about this journey is respecting one another no matter how much you hurt one another inside of court. So basically it means whatever happened on court stays on court and the other thing is to think for everyone not for yourself and taking decisions that will be suitable for everyone, not for myself only.
What are your hopes for women’s wheelchair basketball in South Africa?
My hope for women’s wheelchair basketball is that one day we can represent our country at the Paralympics so that we can get more recognition because I personally think we are not recognized like men.
What’s your advice for success?
Never give up, no matter how hard it is, keep on pushing. There’s nothing that comes easy in life, we always need to work hard and sweat our hearts out for what we love.
What’s your greatest career ambition?
Becoming an inspiration to other people and being able to motivate them sport wise, especially people with disabilities out there who would like to be in sport but are scared.
What’s your advice to women who aspire to take up sport?
I would advise women who would love to be in sport to fight for what they actually want to do in life. Nothing comes easy in life, so whatever sporting code you want to do, please fight for it, I know you can do your best.
Photo 1 Caption: Samkelisiwe Mbatha, a wheelchair basketball player for the U25 women’s national team, chats to gsport Writer Tlamelo Kganakga about overcoming challenges as a para athlete. Photo: Supplied
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