A young sporting maestro
Having completed his final year of schooling last year, the young adult is beginning his first steps into the life of a university student.
A recent study has revealed that by the end of 2015 one in every three people in South Africa will be overweight.
Avid Sportsman, Akhil Gokul does not want to be one of them.
Having completed his final year of schooling last year, the young adult is beginning his first steps into the life of a university student.
The new daunting lifestyle of keeping up with classes, studies, friends and hopefully getting enough sleep has left Akhil with a very important question, “What about my sports?”
He represented his school, St Dominic’s Academy in hockey, adventure racing and captaining the cricket side, Akhil is undeniably accomplished in his sporting career,
This was compounded when he also represented the Newcastle district in both cricket and hockey.
“Sport runs in my family. My elder brother, Kishan was a huge inspiration for me. He thought me everything I know. My parents as well gave us both undying support in our sporting careers, encouraging us to push ourselves to the limit.”
His parents attended almost every sporting event they could attend and Akhil attributes his success to their support, and will forever be grateful to them.
Going forward, Akhil’s plans for sport are only second to his plans for his studies.
“I want to concentrate on my studies now, but at the same time I don’t want to get fat,” he joked.
With this in mind, he advised all university students and young adults to commit to some form of physical activity.
“You could walk or cycle to campus or work, or play a game of soccer or cricket. Just make sure you’re doing some form or exercise and you will notice the benefits of sport in your daily life.’
Looking back one of Akhil’s most memorable moments in sport was during a hockey match between his school and Ferrum High School.
Ferrum had been the dominant hockey team in this match-up for a number of years and St Dominic’s Academy was determined to finally win a game.
“The match was stuck at nil-nil. It was in the dying moments of the game and for some reason I rushed forward from my usual spot in defence. The ball ricocheted to me and my instincts kicked in. It was an instinctive shot that put us into the lead and let us win against Ferrum for the first time in years!” he reminisced.
Akhil believes events and memories such as these will stay with him forever.
“If you have a passion for a sport, no matter what- give it your all. Be the best you can be, even if you are not that good. You can always get better. Never stop giving it your all.”
