Over the years I have been helping disadvantaged athletes by giving them an athletic club membership with licences and vests. I collected second hand training shoes and kit and slowly but surely athletes started to emerge and started winning at races. I pleaded with my provincial body, Central Gauteng Athletics to assist they have been giving the Race Walking Commission a monthly allowance to assi
st these athletes. As this grew the athletes got really good until it was not unusual to see CGA Youth and Juniors standing in all three places on the podium at SA Champs. When I saw Lebogang Shange at a race, who was walking so well and was an orphan, he came to live with me and my late husband Bob. We were fortunate enough to get a sponsor for Lebo, who still supports him today, and Lebo went to the Olympics last year. We felt the need for more than just coaching in athletics for these kids, as we now have 45 race walkers at our monthly training sessions. In November the Race Walking Development Trust was formed. I was given a contact at Queens High School and after many meetings with the principal Mr Lourens and Coach Thandi at the school, we reached an agreement. Our first four athletes started at Queens High School on Wednesday 11th January 2017. They are in residence so now have structure to their lives in that they have their homework supervised, have three good meals a day, a bed to sleep in (some sleep on the floor at home) and Thabiso Tsagane to coach them. There are five worthy athletes waiting to start at Queens, but we need more funds. I feel we have done so well having only started in November to have our first kids in school. If anyone is interested in helping these kids, as we have no big corporate behind us, funds have come mainly from fellow race walkers, please contact me for banking details. Thank you for reading my story, as it is what we are passionate about, Race Walking, and we need to keep our race walkers on the international stage and at the Olympics in 2020. It is possible, we just need to look at Lebogang Shange.
