PeacePlayers South Africa Storybook FINAL - Flipbook - Page 84
pressure. Scott is still Bena's best basketball running mate today. They credit PeacePlayers for “the majority of the
friends” they have today.
Bena says, "I didn't know what PeacePlayers, particularly, was at the time. All I knew was that I had found a sport
I grew to love." It wasn't until winning PeacePlayers’ City-Wide tournament championship against Highbury
Preparatory in Grade 6 that it all clicked. A competitive, but also unifying spirit was born through an experience at
Hoy Park that connected him with participants from other communities.
The City-Wide Tournament in the following year, Grade 7, was the event that brought him out of his shell. He
was forced to grow out of his comfort zone and engage in dialogue with peers from different communities. Bena
was typically nonchalant, and he didn't care for forced friendships. This came from the many changes in his
environment as a kid. At this City-Wide Tournament, he learned the value of forming friendships with participants
from different communities, giving him a different outlook on life. He began to understand how similar or different
his experiences were from others, which gave him a heightened perspective. Bena reflects on his numerous CityWide Tournament experiences and says that “even if you didn't know someone on a name-to-name basis, you knew
their face through playing at the City-Wide Tournament.” Connecting with people within a safe space such as the
City-Wide Tournament was important for a quiet kid like Bena.
In Grade 7, Bena and his brother religiously applied to private schools for scholarships. Finally, they applied to
Durban High School (DHS). There had been several Primary School Programme alumni from Addington who had
gone on to find success in basketball at DHS. Bena simply wanted to follow in their footsteps since he saw them as
role models.
Unfortunately, he wasn't accepted into the school and had to attend Sparks Estate in Overport. Every day, Bena
would have to take a 45-minute walk, which included a "massive hill" to Sparks Estate, while passing DHS on the
way. Bena describes Sparks Estate as a nightmare, "Kids would gamble, drink, and skip class. There were holes in
the walls where kids would literally walk in and out throughout the day." Bena thought this was normal, and he
started to gamble because it was so ubiquitous. At Sparks Estate, he wasn't focused much on school, but he got by
and focused on basketball. A teacher once told him that he’d be a high school dropout. Scott, Bena's friend from
Addington, recalled Bena mentioning that he didn't belong at Sparks Estate and would find a way out.
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PEACEPLAYERS SOUTH AFRICA STORYBOOK
