Banyana Banyana forward Thembi Kgatlana believes staying true to oneself is an important part of growth and is key to open many doors of possibilities.
Kgatlana has been one of South Africa’s greatest exports and has enjoyed some time abroad playing for top teams such as; Houston Dash, Beijing BG Phoenix, Benfica, Eibar and most recently transferred from Spanish giants Atletico Madrid to Racing Louisville in the United States.
The 26-year-old has made a name for herself in the world of football and is considered one the best women footballers from the African continent.
After an impressive display for both club and country, Kgatlana was awarded the 2018 African Women’s Footballer of the Year followed by the 2019 Momentum Athlete of the Year accolade.
The forward was part of Banyana Banyana’s WAFCON (Women’s Africa Cup of Nations) squad but sustained an injury that ruled her out of the tournament before the final against Morocco.
Despite being on the sidelines, Kgatlana became Banyana Banyana’s biggest cheerleader as the team went on to clinch their first ever Women’s Africa Cup of Nations trophy on 23 July 2022 against hosts Morocco.
In this chat, Kgatlana opens up to gsport as she looks back at her career journey, adversity, impact and lessons learned since being crowned Athlete of the Year.
Thembi, thank you for chatting with us! You have grown a lot (which is one of the most beautiful things to see). Since winning the 2019 Momentum Athlete of the Year accolade on the Momentum gsport Awards stage, how has that inspired your career journey?
Winning the Momentum Athlete of the Year back in 2019 has inspired me because as an athlete you appreciate being recognized. It shows you are on the right path and what you are doing is worth all the sacrifices. It was amazing to win that accolade and it kept giving me the motivation that I needed that what I am doing in my career will take me to the highest level. The award gave me courage because I did not win it for only myself, but for other young girls to know that it is possible to come out from nowhere and make it to the top.
What are some of the lessons learned from 2019 until now?
There are many lessons I learned back then because I was learning who Thembi Kgatlana was and what she can do. What I learned at that moment is that, this is my journey and no one is going to live it as best as I can. I even put more effort and time to ensure that I empower myself as a human being. I put more focus on my craft as a footballer, because since 2019 I have reached and done beautiful things. I joined top clubs and that means that the work that I have been doing since then has helped me grow in my career and as a human being.
Through your social media you are always positive towards life, what advice would you like to share to young athletes?
I don’t like giving advice to people not in any other sense but I always feel like when I give advice to someone, I am telling them what to do.
But I always say that the best advice I can give to anyone is:
“To be true to yourself, because once you are true to yourself a lot of things will come your way. Opinions will also come your way but if you are true to yourself and you know what you want not everything will distract you.”
Above everything that I go through on and off the field, I always remind myself to be true because once I know my values and what I want it becomes easier to live life.
If a lot of young people can do that it would really be powerful because they won’t settle for things that are not meant for them.
Your faith journey is amazing! Would you say it is the major aspect that has carried you through adversity?
It is without hesitation that I am a faithful believer, and my faith journey has played a major role in carrying me through adversity because I know that if I believe in myself, I don’t need other people’s opinions or other people to believe in me.
My whole life revolves around God. I know there are many people who play football and want to be where I am, but they can’t, simply because they do not have faith or believe in themselves. So the ability to believe in myself and believe in God and see the wonderful things he has done, continues to do and what he is yet to do for me, really inspires me to be a better human being, teammate, friend and a daughter to my parents. It opens up new possibilities!
Photo 1 Caption: International football star Thembi Kgatlana reflects on her career growth since winning the 2019 Momentum Athlete of the Year accolade on the gsport awards stage. Photo: Thembi Kgatlana (Instagram)
This interview is brought to you in partnership with Sasol. Sasol are proud sponsors of the Global Woman in Sport Award at the 2022 Momentum gsport Awards!
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