Spar Superstars NGN 2025

COLUMBIA Primary School’s Ayabonga Buthelezi hopes to one day realise his dream of playing professional soccer.

The right-back plays for Greenwood Park FC and trains daily for two hours to be consistent with his goals.

The Grade Three learner believes hard work is key to achieving dreams.

“I started playing soccer at seven and I loved it because I’ve always watched football. Although I’m an Orlando Pirates fan, my favourite player is Mfundo Vilakazi from Kaizer Chiefs. I admire him for his skills and hope to one day emulate him on the soccer pitch,” he said. “While I love training and working towards my goals, my least favourite training drill is shooting,” the 10-year-old said.

He recently tried his hand at cross country and took part in the Durban Central cross country trials.

“It was the first time in a long time the school entered and it was a great experience. Our teacher was very supportive and I tried to be as competitive as I could,” he said.

In the classroom, Ayabonga’s favourite subject is maths.

THERE is no doubt that Virginia Preparatory School learner Chloe Weller is a natural athlete.

The Grade Five learner is involved in touch rugby, water polo, netball, swimming, athletics and cross country.

However, she excels in hockey the most.

The 11-year-old recently represented the U12 KZNA hockey team that won gold at the Inter-Provincial Tournament (IPT).

She followed that up by representing the Rebels outdoor hockey team that won gold in the Durban Premier Hockey League (DPL).

Chloe was also named player of the tournament.

A few weeks ago she captained the Panthers U11 team at the Pro Indoor Series (PSI). Incredibly the team won gold and again Chloe was named player of the tournament.

“I’m very happy with my performances this year. I’ve been working hard on my hockey and practising at home. At the beginning of the year I set myself the goal for making the PSI Panthers team which I was so proud of. We finished second last year and there was an amazing team effort this year to help us win gold,” she said.

Chloe’s aspiration is to represent a South African hockey team. She looks up to educator at the school and SA masters hockey player Robyn Wiggett and her sister, Lexi, who also represented KZN at an IPT this year.

She is also focused on her academics and has earned an Academic Merit badge.

When she is not playing sports, Chloe enjoys listening to music, reading and playing Roblox.

DYLAN Maujean is in Grade Six at Chelsea Preparatory School and is an all-rounder, performing well in sport and academics.

His friends and educators describe him as an easygoing young man with a keen desire to learn. The quick-witted lad also has a good sense of humour.

Outside the classroom, Dylan is very active. He enjoys surfing and running, and his dedication to fitness is evident, having finished his fastest 5km run in an impressive 19 minutes and 20 seconds.

“I spend weekends training with my lifesaving club on the beach. I also enjoy relaxing with movies or gaming. I am also quite a foodie and love trying out different cuisine,” said Dylan.

In school he is involved in swimming, water polo, soccer and hockey. He also participates in road running. He has participated in the South African Surf Lifesaving Championship, Dolphin Mile which he completed in 14.24 minutes and placed first, as well as the Midmar Mile which he swam in 28 minutes.

Luyanda Ntlauzana took part at the Natal Festival Dance Competition at Reddam House during the holidays. Through hard work and dedication, the nine-year-old earned two silver medals for group dance and a bronze medal for her solo dance. She then went on to earn an additional bronze medal for the trio dance.

Currently in Grade Three at Glenashley Junior Primary School, the school says it is incredibly proud of her achievements.

“The highlight of the event for me was performing my solo dance. I truly enjoyed the experience as it gave me the chance to showcase my dancing talent, which I won a bronze medal for,” she said.

“I started dancing in Grade R, after being encouraged by my friends to join them. It started out as a fun activity with friends and has since grown into my lasting passion. I have been dancing ever since,” she added.

Luyanda’s biggest inspiration is her dance teacher, who motivates her to improve and keep learning new dance moves.

AS a top speller in her weekly spelling tests at school it was no surprise that Greenwood Park Primary School learner Hadassah Pather triumphed at the recent Grade Three Spelling Bee competition.

The nine-year-old was one of 88 participants to compete at the Umlazi District spelling competition.

In order to take first prize, Hadassah had to spell the word ‘fortuitous’ and she did it in style.

“This was my first spelling bee competition and I was excited and shocked with the result. It was a proud moment for me, my family, my school and my community. I’ve studied hard for the competition and for all my tests and this has shown me hard work pays off,” she said.

Hadassah said her mother is her biggest supporter.
“She always believes in me and I want to thank her because she helped me for the competition,” she said. While she has shown her smarts in English, Hadassah’s favourite subject is Afrikaans.

DURBAN North College learner Aarna Ramdhin, a black belt (1st Dan), recently swapped her karate gi for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The Grade Nine learner was selected to officiate as a referee at the Shotokan Kokusai Karatedo South Africa’s 25th Year Commemorative Championship in Durban.

Over the 12 hours of the tournament Aarna and her fellow team officials judged over a hundred matches in the different categories of Kata and Kumite.

She also underwent special referee training under the guidance of renowned national referees for three months.

“It was an honour being a referee, despite being on my feet for 12 hours I loved the experience. It also helped me improve my self control and patience. We raised funds for Heart Kids South Africa, a non-profit organisation (NPO) raising awareness of congenital heart defects,” she said.

The 15-year-old started karate in 2017, when she was in Grade One, and hasn’t looked back since.

“Initially my father applied for both of us to start and the aim was mainly for self-defence. However, karate became my passion and helped raise my confidence levels, because of the impact of the sport I do debating at school. I recently graduated in Toastmasters. My love and passion for karate grows every time I train and compete and my goal is to get to the 10th dan which would be my ultimate dream,” she said.

Aarna is also among the top three learners in her grade in academics.

NEVA Deeplal, a Grade 11 learner at Northlands Girls’ High School, recently placed second in the prestigious National Netwerk24 Afrikaans First Additional Language Writing Competition.

Neva won a R1 500 cash prize and a writing course and her essay will be published on the Netwerk24 website and in the November Afrikaanse Onderwysnetwerk (AON) newsletter.

“I chose to do a narrative for the competition. It was my first time entering and my friends were doing it so I said ‘why not?’. You could imagine my surprise when I received the news. I couldn’t believe it, I still can’t process that I placed second in the country. It’s exciting to have my piece published and to make my school and family proud,” she said.

Neva, who is an executive at her school, is passionate about her academics and has maintained an 80% aggregate in the classroom.

“I enjoy the concept of learning, it’s fascinating. I’ve always been into academics. Many of my family are academically inclined and they’ve given me strong motivation to strive to do my best,” she said.

She is also involved in Toastmasters and in the first term placed first in the ‘Prepared Speech’ category at the school.

On the sports field, Neva plays outdoor and indoor hockey and her future goals are to work in the finance field, possibly as a chartered accountant (CA).