The Corner Flag: Jealousy makes you nasty

I have to admit I’ve let down the fans of this column. I haven’t written anything in over two months. I sincerely apologise.

It wasn’t intentional.

Since the start of the year, I have suffered creatively. Call it information overload or writing burnout, but I couldn’t write a column that I couldn’t imagine would be interesting, engaging or informative.

The constant criticism I often receive from some community members who don’t appreciate my overall contribution to the Benoni City Times also contributed to this.

I don’t usually care what people say about me because keyboard warriors are never satisfied. But it got to my mind at the end of February when one Benonian confronted me in Northmead and called me a “sh*t journalist”.

I don’t know this man from a bar of soap, but apparently, I have turned this publication into a circus because the sports section is dominated by runners from one club, and we don’t care about other sporting codes.

While I admit that the main sporting codes dominate our pages, I wasn’t aware it rubbed other people the wrong way.

Anyway, this guy ranted while I listened. I realised a while later that he was referring to content the paper had published about a Benoni Northerns Athletic Club junior runner.

Bluntly, I was told to get over my arrogance because there are lots of talented children in the community. It’s true, talent is galore in Benoni, and I have never said or believed otherwise.

In fact, I’m the first to punt our athletes in conversations I have with my colleagues. It’s a fact that no one can ignore. After all, Frith van der Merwe, Dennis Lindsey and Rowen Fernandez are proud Benonians who flew our flag high for years.

While being addressed like a child, I figured that this man’s ranting came from a place of jealousy. He is jealous of a 13-year-old child having fun in athletics while also chasing her dream of winning an Olympic medal for SA in the future.

I’ve been criticised before, but not to the point where I ended up doubting myself. While I have taken his jibes on the chin, I will not allow him to drag a future Olympian in the mud.

So, sir, wherever you are, I want you to know that it’s not hard to imagine Chelsea van Dyk as the next queen of middle-distance running in SA.

Besides being a generational talent, she’s been ruling her middle-distance events with an iron will and unrelenting drive. It would be a missed opportunity if the BCT, her hometown newspaper, ignored her achievements.

I would also not be doing my job if I ignored this. While there are plenty of talented athletes in Benoni, none has been as dominant as Chelsea in their sports in the last seven months.

You’ve read about her achievements but allowed your jealousy to consume you. It’s disappointing.

As long as I’m still with this newspaper, we will continue shining a spotlight on all our achievers – be it Chelsea, Dantè Lucas or Victoria Greyvensteyn.

I ask myself, if you are jealous of a 13-year-old appearing in her hometown newspaper, what will you do when she starts hogging the headlines nationally?

Also Read: The Corner Flag: Never lose courage

Also Read: The Corner Flag: Coaches deserve more respect