Sepeng wants to unearth local talent

Former Olympic medallist Hezekiel Sepeng has launched a programme to identify talent in rural areas.

Scores of children from Muduluni village took part in the competition a fortnight ago. The programme focused on track events, from 80 meters to 5 000 meters.

Muduluni was the home village of Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, who died in a vehicle accident last year.
The talent identification programme is searching for young athletes who are not elite athletes yet but possess the physical and psychological attributes to become one eventually. According to Sepeng,  Mulaudzi had a dream to start a sports academy before he died.

The former coach of Mbualeni Mulaudzi, Mr Makonde Makhumisane, said the idea of  talent identification in the rural areas came about after they realised that a large portion of the young generation was not participating in athletics but were “embracing alcohol, drugs and unprotected sex. Most of them end up being drop-outs and not succeeding in life. Sport will keep them focused,” he added.

“Children who are involved in sport tend to perform well in school, and we will have better results in the long run. I wanted to share my athle­tic experiences with young athletes who still have the chance to make it big,” said Makhumisane.

One of the young players who attended the clinic, Mashudu Mukhada, said that he learnt a lot from Sepeng. He said that his aim was to run at the highest level.

Sport - Date: 18 March 2015

Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

Email: [email protected]