What a great honour and heavy weight it must be on the shoulders of a 14-year-old girl, having been chosen from among thousands of South African hockey players to represent her country on the international playing field.
Romsang Ramafikeng currently attends the King’s School West Rand and has been playing hockey since she was in Grade 6.

During her Grade 7 year, she played in the D2 intra-provincial tournament. When she entered high school and started playing for King’s School, she soon gained her provincial colours.

Now in Grade 9, Romsang has her sights set on conquering the hockey world on international soil. She was recently invited to represent South Africa in the Netherlands.

Romsang is unfortunately facing an obstacle that feels more like a mountain standing between her and realising her dream. Right now, she needs to collect R40 000 to cover the cost of the tour. Without these funds, she won’t be able to represent the country she loves so much in the sport that she’s dedicating her young life to.

She’s very excited at the thought of seeing another country, having heard that it is beautiful, and wants to explore the streets and colourful buildings.

“We’ll also get coaching that’ll improve my skills. I will be able to communicate with people from different places and learn many things from them,” she said, adding that she is very stressed about going there alone, without the support of her guardian, Eunice Segatlhe-Lesejane.

Eunice, on the other hand, is very proud and excited to see Romsang going abroad for such an important and privileged opportunity. In their house, sport has always been a very high priority, second only to studying. Eunice is an excellent golfer, and her children all achieved big successes in sport while growing up. The pride they feel in Romsang’s achievement is enormous, and everyone around her is ecstatic about her future prospects.

The hardest aspects of hockey on this level, according to Romsang, are the fitness training they have to do to stay in top form, and managing her time to get all her schoolwork done. The best part of the game, she smiled, “… is the team. We’re all friends, and get to know each other and learn how to trust each other on the field.”

When asked what she would say to other girls who are thinking about taking up hockey, she said, “You should just try it. Don’t play based on other people’s opinions. Play for yourself and only yourself.”