Gerald Muzikayise Mthombeni was born and bred in eMalahleni and started playing netball at the age of 9.
In primary school, he met Ethel Mnguni who introduced him to school male netball in 2007 and invited him to the trials.
After developing some love for male netball Mthombeni said he made it to the Mpumalanga Schools Males Netball team and he got a chance to play in the National Schools Champions against KZN where they obtained the second position.
Mthombeni said in 2010 he started playing in the senior men’s National Champions, to mention a few: 2010 Sekhukhune, 2011 Bojanala 2012 Bojanala, 2013 NKangala MM 2014 Gauteng Central – gold, 2015 Gauteng A1 – silver, 2016 Gauteng A1 – silver, 2017 Gauteng, A1 – silver.
Through sport Gerald has travelled the world, waving the South African flag.
“In 2013 I represented SA u.23 at the World Championship and played finals against Australia u.23. I was named ‘Defender of the Tournament’ and in 2014 I was named in the Netball South Africa Men’s Squad. Unfortunately, we didn’t have funds to attend tournaments but that did not decay my love for netball, instead, it has made me stronger than before,” said Mthombeni.
Through hard work and dedication, Gerald kept on achieving and fulfilling his dream.
“Last year a squad of 35 players was selected and my name was called in that squad again this year, I got selected amongst 15 players who are going to represent the Men’s Protea SA team in the International Men’s Netball Tournament series that will be held in Pretoria Heartfelt arena this September,” he said.
Gerald said his biggest dream is to see more men partaking in men’s netball just like the women do in soccer. Mtombeni further told WITBANK NEWS that he has his own netball academy.
“I have my own netball academy called G2M Netball Academy; I do one on one sessions and group sessions. I teach people how to play, coach and umpire,” said Mthombeni.
Gerald said his journey was never easy because many people did not understand why he was playing netball, but the support he got from his family kept him alive and gave him strength.
“My parents and siblings are my support system. They have never judged me as a male playing netball; they’ve always supported me and made sure that I got everything that I needed from playing shoes to transport money and everything that creates elite athletes,” he said.
Mthombeni is ready to represent eMalahleni and South Africa as a whole this coming September.
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