NWU captain Essex leads by example with Varsity Hockey best player award

One of the flag-bearers for the NWU during the recently concluded 2018 Varsity Hockey tournament was none other than their talismanic captain, Sinoxolo ‘Essex’ Mbekeni.

The 23-year-old’s contributions on the Astroturf did not go unnoticed and he was named the 2018 Varsity Hockey Player of the Tournament – a well-deserved award for the energetic playmaker who was caught off-guard when he received the exciting news.

‘I was really surprised when I saw that I had won the award. I still don’t believe it. My intention before and during the tournament was never to win individual awards and focused more on making sure that we perform as a team,’ he exclaimed.

Mbekeni, who was born in the tiny Eastern Cape town of Stutterheim and moved to East London at the age of nine, is no stranger to hockey success.

‘I was introduced to hockey in Gr. 6 at Crewe Primary and, from there on, I made the u.11 and u.13 Border teams. I went to Hudson Park High School and made the provincial sides at u.14, u.16 and u.18 level. I also made the SA u.18B team. When I failed to make the provincial side in Gr. 9 I knew that I could excel in hockey. In a way, that failure motivated me.’

Mbekeni is no newcomer to the NWU setup, having been part of the first team at the club for the past six years. As the current captain, he feels the pressure was never exclusively on his shoulders as he had a strong leadership group that had his back.

‘We have a lot of senior players in our team who have been playing together for the past four years. Our leadership group makes most of the decisions and I represent that as the captain on the field. As a leadership group, we then connect with our coaching staff with whom we have a great understanding,’ he added.

Between studies at the NWU, he has also represented the Addo Elephants in the Premier Hockey League (PHL) for the past two seasons. ‘Playing for the Addo Elephants has really helped me to step up my game too, when playing with and against some of the top players in the country,’ he added.

Photos: Christiaan Kotze/SASPA

Besides making his mark on the hockey field, Mbekeni also coaches the North West u.18 side and Potchefstroom Boys’ High’s first hockey team. ‘I really enjoy playing and coaching at the moment. The plan is to go play hockey overseas next year for a couple of months after finishing my B.Com Human Resources degree this year.”

The future looks exceedingly rosy for the NWU’s first-ever Varsity Hockey MVP. Expect him to continue leading from the front with the NWU logo proudly on his chest and the number 10 on his back squarely in the eyes of the opponents left in his wake.

Facts on Essex
• Mbekeni has a B.Com Hons degree in Economics and International Trade and is currently doing a degree in B.Com Human Resources.
• He is the NW Men’s captain.
•He got the name “Essex” after his u.14 coach couldn’t pronounce his first name. Essex thus comes from the ‘s’ and ‘x’ in his birth name, ‘Sinoxolo’.