PeacePlayers South Africa Storybook FINAL - Flipbook - Page 103
A few coaches who had a positive impact on Thandeka sparked her eagerness to have a
similar impact on young people's lives in her area. These coaches were Ntobeko Ngcamu
and Thobani Khumalo. Coach Ntobeko coached Thandeka for the Umlazi West community
team for two years. Thandeka recalls him being "kind and patient while allowing me to
speak what's in my heart. He helped me see life from a different perspective in
understanding right from wrong in certain scenarios". Another coach she has reverence for
is Coach Thobani, also known as "Panda." Panda was an Area Coordinator who consistently
urged Thandeka to self-examine, which helped her understand that “I was more than I was
giving myself credit for.” At this point, she knew she wasn't reaching her full potential in
her comfort zone.
Through life skills facilitation with Coach Ntobeko and, even further, through
facilitating those same life skills with her participants, Thandeka became more at peace and
less confrontational. Thandeka started to be more cautious of the things she said that might
be hurtful to others. "I started to take things slow before reacting out of anger," says TT.
By 2017, she was also selected as a Laureus Sport for Good Foundation YES Programme
participant. This came after Laureus recognised her ability to effectively lead and facilitate
life skills sessions in her community. PeacePlayers coaching and this programme helped
Thandeka understand more about herself. She began to set goals and a vision, learning to
identify her values and tune-in to her inner self. Ultimately, this helped her understand the
role she could play in her community with the support of her peers.
Since being involved with PeacePlayers and Laureus, Thandeka has had the opportunity to
travel to Cyprus in 2017 for a Leadership Development Programme camp and Cape Town
with Laureus in 2018.
Her latest trip to Cape Town was capped off with each participant receiving bursaries to
study sports management, resulting in Thandeka being able to study at the Mangosuthu
University of Technology.
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