WHEN I first started this series, I thought to myself, “gosh, what will I write about to cover 10 parts of this series? How much can I actually write about golf? And for how long will I be able to keep audiences interested and engaged in the content?”
That negative voice in my head was the voice of doubt. Doubt that I can do it, and doubt that it’d be good enough. And when I think about it now, it’s the same doubt I see in the eyes and the trembling hands of a first-time newbie when he/she grips a club. They look visibly uncertain because they’ve been conditioned to believe that the sport isn’t for them – that’s why it’s not available at their schools or on the broadcast media platforms they have access to at home.
At least now through the work done by Mitchells Plain Golf Club and others, more kids within and around the Cape Flats are getting to know what golf is, and that it’s a sport they too are able enjoy.
Fast forward to last Wednesday when we paid our first visit to YR Golf Performance – a simulated golf training studio in Claremont run by PGA Pro Yusuf Raidhan. Yusuf first coached me a few months back as I took the leap to follow my once abandoned dream to become a PGA accredited coach myself. A journey I look forward to sharing more about soon.
Yusuf and I quickly became friends and here we are today, where Yusuf aligned with MPGC to coach up to 15 of our top players once per week, refining their game to reach peak performance. This is a massive investment from a small business that only just launched at the beginning of this year. This is the kind of support that organisations such as ours need to thrive and have a greater impact within and beyond our community.
In our first visit, we had eight kids participate in the analysis and coaching session, and while all of them displayed varying levels of competency at the sport, one of them had a technically perfect swing! Swing is on plane, club face is at all the right angles and the kid is athletic. If I was a betting man, I’d wager that was it not for MPGC and Yusuf’s willingness to help, we’d never have discovered Tristin’s golfing ability, and he’d never know that he is a naturally talented golfer. And he wouldn’t start believing that a career in golf is not a far-fetched dream.
We’ve already missed so many of these gems over the last several decades – and as Gasant Abarder so aptly put it on Twitter yesterday, “Can we normalise seeing Proteas and Boks coming from schools like Kasselsvlei, Livingstone and Salt River High”. School sport is the launchpad in the pursuit of a professional sporting career.
I remember when I was at high school, we had many talented soccer players at Mondale. Two of my classmates, Lance Davids and Ashraf Hendricks (who regularly stole my lunch lol) both played topflight PSL football for Ajax, Orlando Pirates, Bidvest Wits and Moroka Swallows respectively, and made the Bafana squad too.
While they were exceptional, determined, and motivated athletes, they also had an incredible mentor and supporter in our school soccer coach Nigel Crowie, a respected name in school and professional soccer in South Africa, who I’m confident made every effort to clear pathways for my peers.
I can only dream of how different the golf landscape could be if we had a Mr Crowie coaching us to play golf, competing in and winning tournaments year-after-year, just as Mondale did in soccer and athletics.
Mining conglomerates don’t stumble upon the precious gems and minerals that their businesses rely on to generate profits – they mine for it! They know where to look for it, extract it, refine, and/or polish it, then present the commodity to market at an increased value. It’s called the beneficiation process.
Similarly, we need to continue mining for our own gems. And by “our own” I mean our community’s. We know which schools to find them at and we have resources among ourselves (businesses) to extract and polish it.
For example, if you go watch your kid play in a school or club soccer, cricket or rugby match and you see another kid with obvious talent, if you’re in a position to fast-track that kid’s career in some way, please do it. This doesn’t have to be financial assistance – It could a media interview opportunity, an introduction to a prospective sponsor or even a commitment to support the child when you can. Please just approach his/her parents or the coach and offer your assistance.
Offer the assistance whether its needed or not because what we also need desperately among ourselves is to start building a culture of support. A culture of elevating one another without any expectation of reward, recognition, or clout. The gesture alone demonstrates to the talent and the parent(s) that he/she is good enough! This external validation plays an important role in the personal and ultimately the professional development of the talent, and this alone is worth reaching out for.
I guess what I’m saying is, yes, we need the government to do their job and create or at least enable access to adequate sports facilities at all public schools. But this is often harder than renewing your driver’s licence or applying for a passport. So, when state-funded infrastructure and support is lacking, but passion, talent, and a willingness to succeed is high within and among a united and co-ordinated community, we can do it ourselves.
I hope Yusuf’s example inspires other, better-resourced companies to lend their support to organisations such as ours, in a collaborative effort toward creating an enabling environment for all interested and capable youth to succeed at their sport of choice.
Follow Jehad’s Far from par series every Tuesday.
Far from par is a 10-part series by about the grassroots development of golf in South Africa. For decades, golf was a sport reserved for white men for both leisure and professional expression.
Sadly, after nearly 30 years of democracy, apart from it now being open to all, not much has changed to foster meaningful transformation.
This series explores his experience on the importance of, challenges faced and status quo of grassroots golf development and transformation in South Africa.
If you’d like to find out more about Mitchells Plain Golf Club, here’s how to: www.mitchellsplaingolfclub.org.za or @mitchellsplain_golfclub on Instagram, or contact Jehad on +27 723654037 or [email protected]
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