PeacePlayers South Africa Storybook FINAL - Flipbook - Page 24
Akhona Ngcobo first met Sean Tuohey, Thibault Manekin, and Ryan Douwie while
playing basketball at Durban University of Technology's (DUT) basketball courts,
where young students would convene to play competitive basketball. Mthoko
Madonda and Akhona were the only University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) students
who would visit the neighboring school to play.
Akhona's first introduction to basketball was at 15 years old. She was a netball
player at heart, but once basketball was introduced in high school, she grew fond
of a game that connected her to a new group of people. Her coaching career came
almost 10 years later when she began coaching at Berea Primary with Playing for
Peace. Akhona says, "Coaching helped build me up to become a better mom and it
gave me the confidence to be myself. There were times when I had little self-love and
felt inadequate." She was an extrovert, so these traits were hard to see through her
personality.
While coaching in university, Akhona started recruiting schools to participate
in Playing for Peace programmes. "They [Playing for Peace] only had about 5 or 6
schools at the time," says Akhona. Eventually, Akhona started to work with Thibault
on the business and partnership side of the organisation, whilst Ryan Douwie and
Sean Tuohey spent their time on programme delivery.
Thibault and Akhona shared special moments in the organisation's roots. They spent
much of their time meeting with potential funders pitching the organisation, often
driving back and forth from Durban to Johannesburg in a small yellow
car to secure funding from the likes of Nelson Mandela's Children Fund and the
petroleum company ENGEN. When they were “home” in Durban, they were
drafting organisational policies together. When they were in Johannesburg, they
were helping funders understand the power of Playing for Peace’s programmes.
Thibault says, “Akhona was my #1 go to person. We worked well together and
cultivated valuable external partnerships for the organisation.”
One of Akhona's favourite memories with Thibault occurred before a meeting with
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PEACEPLAYERS SOUTH AFRICA STORYBOOK
