Barberton-born tennis coach tastes victory in Harare

The newly appointed national U16 tennis coach, Sabelo Mathebula, led his troops to a victorious outing during the ITF/CAT Southern Africa Zonal Championship held in Harare on January 6 to 15.

Hailing from Barberton, Mathebula is a professional tennis coach and the director of Tennis Base Academy.

The Tennis SA (TSA) juniors were made up of four teams, boys and girls U14 and U16. The U14 and U16 boys teams as well as girls U14 team won gold in their respective team competitions at the 2023 ITF/CAT Southern African Junior Championships.

Young Lowvelder JP Snyman was a member of the U14 team.

The U16 girls team took silver after losing in the final to Madagascar.The teams qualified for the African Junior Tennis Championships that will be held later this year.

Mathebula’s U16 team consisted of Connor Doig (KZN), Reuben de Klerk (NW) and Nhlakanipho Ngwenya (Gauteng).

These players are from the best tennis academies and nurtured by the great coaches in the country.

The tour was divided into two sections: first, an individual tournament, which was followed by a team event.

Mathebula said he is over the moon for having executed his duties exceptionally.

“It is truly a privilege and humbling to serve our country at this level of the game.

I can only thank TSA for giving me this great opportunity. The support they gave me before and during my first tour was amazing.

Having been involved in tennis for the past 32 years, I believe it is not only a matter of celebrating my appointment as a national junior team coach, but it is a call for me to make a meaningful contribution to the team and the growth of our sport in general.”

He said this tour was a learning curve.

“Travelling with a national team was my first experience, and I must say that it was a great opportunity for me to learn and use my knowledge to assist the team. Indeed I was tested, and I am proud that my U16 boys managed to perform well throughout the tournament.

“To me the appointment means our province has been given another opportunity to contribute and showcase what we can do in terms of coaching. This is a great platform for me to grow as a coach. Playing against countries in the southern hemisphere like Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Angola and Mozambique, has given me a clear picture in terms of where we are as a country, and I cannot wait to experience how countries in the north and central Africa (Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, etc.) approach the game,” he said.

“One of my special moments about the tournament is the fact that I got to travel with JP Snyman, an U14 player from Mbombela who displayed great performance as he represented our country.

Even though he was not in my team, he was there in the national junior team representing our country. It is really encouraging to know that our province is capable of producing players of his calibre,” Mathebula said.

“Henry Khoza, a tennis icon from my hometown of Emjindini in Barberton, who had a significant impact on my life, deserves a great deal of gratitude.

I was given a chance and developed into the person I am today thanks to Dr Charl Marais and a former professional tennis coach.

I will always be grateful to Marais for introducing me to coaching and teaching me a lot about tennis administration.”