16-year-old-VHS learner plays rugby in Italy
Siphosethu is currently a Grade 10 learner at Vryheid High School (VHS). As a young boy, he dreamt of being a doctor, but things changed along the way and now he sees himself being a professional rugby player one day.
16-year-old Siphosethu Mkhwanazi from Bhekuzulu has fallen in love with the game of rugby, and it certainly shows! He recently played abroad in Italy…
Siphosethu is currently a Grade 10 learner at Vryheid High School (VHS). As a young boy, he dreamt of being a doctor, but things changed along the way and now he sees himself being a professional rugby player one day. He recently travelled to Italy to play his favourite sport, alongside his team members.
He was selected in March this year to play abroad and his dreams came to life in September, as he found himself boarding a plane to Italy.
Siphosethu explains that he started playing rugby when he was in Grade 5 at Nardini Convert School, when all the other boys were either playing soccer or rugby. “We wanted something to do at school and rugby seemed like a good option. For some reason, I stopped playing for a while and then my mother convinced me to take it up again in Grade 7.”
Siphosethu was selected for the NKZN squad while he was playing in Durban, where all schools in Northern KwaZulu-Natal participated. He says one had to be determined and work hard in order to be selected and get the opportunity to play abroad.
“I cannot even start explaining how Italy was. It felt so good to be out and about, leaving the environment I am used to and getting immersed in a totally different one that I am not familiar with. Obviously there was going to be a language barrier, but that was understandable. Italy is different; it’s just like in the movies,” he says with a smile.
Siphosethu was in Italy for 10 days and played three matches.
He says that his future plans include a lot of practice on the field, as he is training every day to keep fit. He hopes to be selected to play for the Vryheid High School (VHS) U/19 first team. If that happens, he is crossing his fingers to play in the trials for the NKZN team and then the Sharks.
He thanks his parents for their continuous support, his coach and teammates, whom he believes play a big role in his sporting career.
“I would like to thank all the people who carried me through, especially my sponsors who contributed to the total of R48,000 that was needed to finance my trip.”
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