Shangase trail-blazes her way into national academy

KZN Women’s cricket captain, Nondumiso Shangase, was recently named in the intake of the Powerade National Academy, a reward for the hard work that she has put in to improve her game.

This month, the 21 year old became the first African woman representing KZN to make a century and then two days later, when Cricket South Africa announced its intake for this year’s National Academy, Shangase was the only women’s cricketer from the province on the list.

“I’m happy knowing that I’m the first black African woman to score 100 for KZN. It motivates me to keep on pushing harder and harder so that I will make more runs,” said Shangase.

She achieved the feat at the Chatsworth Oval in a CSA interprovincial league game against Mpumalanga. “Early in the morning one of my team mates said to me ‘I want 50 runs today from you.’ I asked her why not 100? I have a belief that if you want something, aim high so that it will be easy to get,” she said.

Shangase – who grew up in Amatikwe in Inanda – began playing cricket at the age of 17, after observing her brother’s growing interest in the game.

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“He was playing cricket – going for practices and playing games on Sundays.” She followed suit, attending practices held in Inanda as part of the KZNCU, DSR and Sunfoil Township and Rural Development Programme.

Khulekani Mtshali, who coached her at the time, remembers her all too well: “She is a very humble girl. Down to earth, listened to instructions – if she didn’t understand, she would ask again. She’s the type of person who doesn’t like failing,” he said.

Shangase joined the practices in Inanda in 2013, and made the KZN girls’ U19 side in the same year, as well as in 2014. She was invited to play for the KZN women’s senior side in February 2015, and currently captains the team.

“She has an immense amount of talent. She works extremely hard and giving up isn’t an option for her,” said KZN’s women’s coach, Dinesha Devnarain.

Being placed in the national academy presents a huge opportunity for Shangase to showcase her talent. “It’s a great platform for her to get on to the next stepping stone and she can make it as far as she wants to go,” Devnarain added.

Devnarain says that Shangase’s history-making performance at the weekend is a sign of more to come in women’s cricket in the province.

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“It’s the start of something great – there has always been talent, but with hard work and application, other black African females can relate to Nondumiso. I think her innings is going to open a lot of players’ minds to achieve greater things,” she said.

Shangase’s century and her inclusion in the CSA academy could also represent a game-changer for the KZNCU, DSR and Sunfoil Township and Rural Development Programme.

“We have always wanted a role model for the girls in our programme, now we’ve finally found one. This is wonderful news for me personally as a woman – it also shows that our development is focusing not only on boys, but girls too. I hope this is the start of great things for her,” said Sanelisiwe Kuzwayo, the manager of the programme.

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