SA team members strive to excel

The wheelchair South Africa basketball women’s team is an example of female strength.

The NEWS met with two of the players, Masego Mokhine and Kate Swanepoel, who played for the South African team during the team’s training session at the Mandeville Sports Club recently.

Kate is a young, confident woman who started playing basketball in June 2011.

She was introduced to wheelchair basketball during her training as an occupational therapist and she fell in love with the sport.

“I called in sick the morning after my first training session as I was too sore to get out of bed. Since then, I’ve been hooked,” said Kate.

She said it has not always been easy to play because of her non-functional stomach and back muscles, which makes it difficult to manage when playing such a fast sport.

“I struggled to learn how to balance myself in the wheelchair, but luckily several of the older players quickly taught me the tricks of the trade,” said Kate.

She said there are challenges such as equal representation as female players in a largely male-dominant sport.

“But fortunately, Wheelchair Basketball South Africa (WBSA) has undertaken to send the national women’s team to the African Paralympic Qualifiers in Algeria this year for the first time. This is the first ever event of this magnitude for women’s wheelchair basketball on the African continent,” said Kate.

However, the team is also challenged as no team sponsor has come forward.

“But even with such challenges, we believe all will fall into place and we will keep on focusing on our training and prepare for Algeria,” said Kate.

She has not allowed her disability to control her life and prevent her from enjoying life and being a woman.

“I think the biggest thing is not allowing your disability to hold you back from doing anything that is meaningful to any other woman. Whether it is prospering in your career, playing top-level sport, bringing up a family, being a strong, independent woman or any combination of the above. I think a lot of women with disabilities struggle with their self-esteem and feelings of personal beauty because of the way that popular culture and opinion views the ‘perfect women’, but it is up to us to challenge our communities that beauty and womanhood appear in many different forms,” said Kate.

She feels honoured to play for and represent South Africa.

“Every time I put on the green and gold vest and hear our national anthem played, I am reduced to tears. It is such an honour to play for one’s country and not one that many people get to experience,” said Kate.

Masego equally shares the same strength.

“My disability has never been a challenge,” said Masego, who took up the sport at the age of 12.

She started with athletics in 1999 and then met her wheelchair basketball coach, Willie Mulder, in 2001.

He invited her to train at Mandeville and in 2002, she was the first woman to play basketball among men.

“My disability has never given me a challenge. I can walk and thus had to perfect my wheelchair skills, which didn’t take more than three months,” said Masego.

She is able to walk without a wheelchair but due to these being expensive, she has to borrow a wheelchair from teams.

Acceptance has helped Masego to have confidence with her disability.

“I have accepted to live and be comfortable within me. In the past, I entered Miss Confidence SA and that taught me to accept who I am and to be proud of what God gave me. He made no mistake,” said Masego.

She is proud of herself and what she has achieved, and said being part of the South African team is a blessing.

“I am proud and blessed to be part of the SA team. I could never ask for more, representing one’s country is the best thing ever and the proudest moment,” said Masego.