At the age of 16, while his contemporaries were barely able to hit a football on target, Daniel Amokachi was already a fully-fledged international for Nigeria, and was competing against the best on the continent.
He began, like all African boys of his generation, by kicking an improvised ball in the streets of Kaduna in north-west Nigeria. Strong for his age, he stood out like a sore thumb. Before long, he was elevated to the youth sides of the city’s many territorial leagues.
He also featured for his secondary school team which won the state trophy and went on to play in the national championship, where, against overwhelming odds, they became champions.
In 1989, he was called up for a trial with his local Kaduna team, Ranchers Bees, who played in the top national league. The transition from playing in front of a few hundred students to suddenly finding himself displaying his skills in front of tens of thousands of Kaduna loyalists was a huge gulf but the confident 15-year-old was determined.
When Ranchers Bees faced Ivorian giants, ASEC Mimosas, in a regional tournament, he had no idea that the national team’s recently recruited Dutch coach, Clemens Westerhof, was present. Ranchers Bees won 3-1 with the effervescent Amokachi scoring twice. After the match, Westerhof sought him out.
“Do you know who I am?” the Dutchman asked.
“No,” replied Amokachi.
“I’m Clemens Westerhof, the national team coach, and I want you to play for the national team.”
Amokachi found himself at the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria a few months later. Nigeria went all the way to the final where they fell to a solitary goal against the hosts. They had gone to the tournament with little expectation and it was the first step of a journey that would see their star rise over the next decade.
Amokachi’s outstanding performances led to a move to the top Belgian side, Club Brugge, where he initially struggled to adjust to the the unfamiliar environment. He lived with a Belgian couple, Magda and Willie, who became his ‘foster parents’ and made his transition less stressful.
There were some memorable moments.
“I saw the great Jan Ceulemans, Belgium’s World Cup star, carrying a bag of balls to the training session from the dressing room and in true African culture, since he was much older than me, I went to carry the bag for him. He said no and told me that this week it was his turn and that my turn would come, and offered to show me the timetable for players’ duties. It was a learning process for me because it showed that as a team we were all equal irrespective of age, experience or form,” says Amokachi.
He spent four successful seasons in Belgium and was prominent in the Nigerian team that won the Africa Cup of Nations for only the second time in 1994, and that went on to the World Cup in the United States (US) the same year. It was here that Nigeria showed their class by topping their group, beating Bulgaria 3-0, Greece 2-0 and narrowly losing to Argentina 2-1.
In the second round, Nigeria led Italy by a single goal and were two minutes away from reaching the quarterfinal when a defensive error allowed Roberto Baggio to equalize. Baggio went on to score again in extra time and Nigeria were out of the tournament but left an indelible mark. Amokachi believes they could have gone much further.
<div id="attachment_4566" style="width: 230px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4566" class="size-medium wp-image-4566" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/GettyImages-102304017-220x300.jpg" alt="" width="220" height="300" />DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA &#8211; JUNE 22: Lars Lagerback head coach of Nigeria speaks to Daniel Amokachi, assistant coach during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group B match between Nigeria and South Korea at Durban Stadium on June 22, 2010 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Lars Lagerback;Daniel Amokachi</div>
“It’s the mentality of an African team. We always think it’s over when it’s not over. We were celebrating like we had already won. We forgot that football is 90 minutes.”
Amokachi scored one of the goals of the tournament against Greece, a scorching volley from outside the box, and earned accolades for his strength and skill. Shortly after, Everton Football Club came calling and he became the club’s most expensive player when they paid £3 million for his services.
Moving from the Belgian league to English football was a culture shock and initially Amokachi struggled.
“It’s a totally different ball game. The toughness, the speed is a reality. My nickname was ‘The Bull’ and I had strength and speed but after the first game I knew I had to really work hard. We played Blackburn Rovers in the first game and I had three opportunities that under normal circumstances I would score but each time a defender took the ball away from me. It took me six months to adjust. It was only towards the end of the season that I found my rhythm.”
He won the hearts of the Everton fans when he came off the bench to score twice in the FA Cup semifinal against Tottenham Hotspur to take the team to Wembley for the final. His two goals in 10 minutes etched his name into the club’s history books. Everton went on to beat Manchester United 1-0 in the final, with Amokachi making a substitute appearance.
He made his second World Cup appearance at the 1998 tournament in France, and was hoping Nigeria would go further after their second round exit in 1994, but it turned out to be a torrid time for both him and the team. An errant tackle in training saw him limp off the field.
He missed the first game against Spain, lasted 70 minutes against Bulgaria, but in the third match against Paraguay he felt his knee give way as he warmed up.
“I just walked off, didn’t tell anyone and went to the dressing room and locked myself in the toilet, in tears.”
He had surgery and played for another year but could feel that something was not right and underwent a second operation. A long period of rehabilitation followed. After unsuccessful spells with the Colorado Rapids in the US and Besiktas in Turkey, he made one final attempt with Créteil in France but when his injury recurred during the trial, he informed the club that he wouldn’t be able to continue.
After a discussion with his wife, he decided to give up the game at the young age of 28. It was a heart-rending decision that opened his eyes to life’s realities.
“One day you are up there and then you are down here. All the people you thought were your friends disappear. But that helps you because you now see who your real friends are. It makes you become a man and know what the world is really about. Even in your family, you find out who is really your true family.”
When the dollars were flowing, Amokachi was known for living the highlife and he made choices that he regrets.
“When you are living in that world and you wake up every morning, every week your bank account is credited, whether there is training or not, whether you play or not, that account is credited and you have endorsements left, right and center. You’re making money. You have style, you have class and you want to show it. But, when you sit down and think about it, the reality hits you. It’s not just about making money. You go back to Nigeria at that age of 28, and you see how people suffer and are really struggling, and it makes you realize that the life you were living is a totally different ball game. You think about the money you waste,” he says.
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“Someone will come and tell you they need some working capital and they ask for less than $100. You ask them what they can expect to generate from less than $100 and they just want to have enough to make small cakes and sell on the street to survive. Meanwhile you take out $120,000 to buy a car, and park five cars that you don’t really need and maybe drive them once a month. What are those things for?… You then realize that you need to use money to impact people’s lives and that’s how I’ve been living my life since, helping where I can.”
After his playing days came to an end, Amokachi took up coaching and has served the Nigeria national team as assistant and caretaker coach. In almost a replication of his playing career, he was assistant coach when Nigeria won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013 and reached the second round of the World Cup in 2014.
At the age of 42, the African game will definitely be hearing the roar from The Bull in the future.

Tears of a wouNded bull

The relationship between an athlete and a coach can be complicated. It involves a personal bond but on a professional basis. Everything we’ve been told about mixing business and pleasure goes out the window. It requires responsibility from both sides and takes time to develop. Throughout my sporting career, I have had a close relationship with my coaches but there was a time when I regretted rushing into it.
I moved to Europe from the United States to join a new coach, one who I had only met on a few occasions. I was taken by the advice he offered me during a competition. I was already a successful swimmer and had the medals to show for it, but to remain successful, I needed something to change. So, when presented with his subsequent proposal and promise, I grabbed what I thought was an exciting opportunity.
Two weeks later, I realized I had not done my homework. The situation I had got myself into was not what I had expected. I was an elite athlete with three Olympic Games behind me, seven Olympic medals, multiple world records and my new coach was a junior level club coach with little international experience. I found it difficult to communicate with both him and his ego. Ego can be confused with confidence; it will stunt your growth because you fail to listen to others. This became a detriment to our partnership.
I tried making it work by following his program and quietly focusing on my individual desperation to succeed. It was too late and I started feeling what I had only ever seen others endure. For the first time, a lack of confidence had become my problem. As my confidence continued to cascade, so too did my passion in swimming. I was no longer swimming for the enjoyment of the sport; I was swimming because I thought I had nothing else. Perhaps change was not what I was after. The tipping point came during a competition when my coach’s temper burst into a dramatic fit of tantrums, in front of all the other athletes and coaches. My embarrassment and anger at him, and at myself for letting this happen, gave me the courage I needed to finally make the right decision.
Within a day, I had moved countries and flown back to my coaches in the United States. Now I knew what I wanted and I was anxious to get my confidence back. I had trained under Kim Brackin and David Marsh for a long time and we share a good relationship because they know me as a person, not just an athlete. This is essential for understanding what can affect an athlete outside of sport because of the impact it can have on training.
Their experience also matched the level of training and competition I required. This kind of platform enables us to balance expectations and hold each other accountable to our goals. I was no longer open to change but the necessity for it was confirmed when my coaches provided it for me. It came in the form of a team.
A team is not just a group of individuals with a common purpose. It is a group of passionate individuals with different strengths that help improve the weaknesses in each other to achieve a common goal. The team is made successful by good leadership. A good coach, like a good leader, is always learning, open to ideas and constantly searching for the most effective and efficient methods for improvement. This makes them willing to change, willing to evolve and, if properly communicated with the athlete, evolve together.
To successfully evolve together, the relationship between an athlete and a coach has seven elements: trust, experience, communication, accountability, passion, patience and time. For the magic to work, there is an eighth element that binds it all together – respect. It is vital that these components come from both the coach and the athlete and for that to happen both must earn each other’s respect.
The coach has to take the lead and, as the relationship progresses, a partnership will begin to emerge. A good coach not only prepares you for sport but they prepare you for life. They provide challenges that make for a better athlete and guidance in dealing with those challenges that make for a better person.

Behind Every Great Athlete  Is A Great Coach

Charm is that intangible quality which draws attraction and creates a connection.
Legendary French actress Sarah Bernhardt defined it as: “You must have charm to reach the pinnacle. It is made of everything and of nothing, the striving will, the look, the walk, the proportions of the body, the sound of the voice, the ease of the gestures. It is not at all necessary to be handsome or to be pretty; all that is needful is charm.”
It’s a key ingredient for success in a social setting, but what about the business environment?
Inner Life Skills (ILS) Master Coach Asanda Gcoyi from South African capital Pretoria says charm is extremely important in business.
Having graduated cum laude with an MBA from China’s Peking University, Gcoyi has worked in Beijing and has coached in intercultural settings in various areas including global leadership development, entrepreneur development and life coaching.
“Some people are really just not charming and they make absolutely no effort to be. There’s almost a lack of awareness about how important this is, especially in business.
“Charming people possess social skills that enable them to go out there and generate business on behalf of their companies. Whether it’s a budgetary request or pitching a new project, charm goes a long way in ensuring your proposal is listened to and even considered,” says Gcoyi.
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She highlights that having charm is far removed from being a “people pleaser”.
“It’s rather the ability to get your way because people can relate to you and your personality, mannerisms and the way you carry yourself inspires confidence. Charm is by nature verbal and non-verbal. Verbal in that you say what matters and non-verbal in that your gestures are synchronized with your words.”
While some professionals may be natural charmers, there are techniques to cultivate a charming manner according to Gcoyi:
Open ended questions, such as “what do you think about….” This invites thought and a considered response which goes a long way in creating more authentic connections with others.
Be a good listener – you can do this in two ways: either by backtracking, which means you use the same words that the other party uses, i.e, pick a word they have used and include it when it’s your turn to speak. The second way is to mirror and match the other party through tone and language (verbal and body). Gestures such as nods need to be appropriate and tasteful and not as if you are rushing a person through what they are saying, or being dismissive.
Eye contact conveys self-assurance as well as saying you care about the communication taking place and you are giving it your undivided attention. It’s important to note that this applies in a Western setting as direct eye contact in other cultures, including some Asian and African, may read it as intimidating or even arrogance or disrespect.
Smile and laugh – a smile is the surest way to win favor in most interactions, but can never be enough in itself. A winning smile is usually accompanied by open and inviting hand gestures for example.
Genuine pleasure – when you are authentic, you speak with others from a place that is not pretentious. Open mindedness tends to lead to a genuine interest in others.
Durban-based Arthie Moore, CEO of Celebrating Humanity International and Co-Founder of the Transformational Leadership Institute, says a charming person “has the type of personality that adjusts to be inclusive of everyone, anywhere and at any time”.
She says John Maxwell’s book, The 5 Levels of Leadership highlights that leadership is about character.
“According to Maxwell, to become a person of influence, one has to have integrity, values and a strong character. To have charm adds to that mix and allows one a journey of continuous growth as a charismatic leader.
“Charming people have the ability to adjust their tone, body language, eye contact and way of interacting to make sure that others feel comfortable in their space. At the same time, they are thoughtful and have meaningful conversations. They do not undermine or overpower with their own opinions. In order to succeed, we need to adjust continually to become more effective. A charming leader who is effective is guaranteed to succeed in leading and inspiring their entire teams. Success just follows on as a natural progression,” says Moore.

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Turn On The Charm

When it comes to being heard in the boardroom or during a presentation, can a woman sound authoritative enough, without raising her voice?
Experts say yes she can – by using her voice as a secret weapon.
Durban psychologist Claire Newton, also a speaker, trainer and life coach, says a well-modulated voice ensures the listener not just pays attention to it, but also enjoys it.
For a woman, a lower pitch is key – in relation to a man’s deeper voice – when it comes to delivering a message.
Luckily, African women naturally have deeper voices in comparison with their Western or Asian counterparts.
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“Pitch is culturally taught. German women tend to have a lower pitch than Californian women who have high-pitched voices&#8230;African women already have the advantage of a lower pitch, while Oriental or Asian women have a higher pitch.”
But what is not advisable?
“If you speak in a squeak or cutesy voice, you will never make it through those meetings. It’s similar to a child’s high-pitched voice and no one will take your message seriously,” warns Newton.
She adds that if a voice is too high-pitched it becomes unpleasant and the audience will simply block it out.
“For a high-level executive woman, it’s necessary to train your voice to a lower pitch,” says Newton, adding there are four facts to voice control: volume (loud or soft), pitch (high or low), tone (warm or cold/brisk) and speed.
Monique Harrisberg, CEO of The Voice Clinic in South Africa, says women must not make the mistake of believing they will be heard by raising their voice.
“Speaking loudly tightens the vocal chords and creates a harsh flat quality.
“Lowering your pitch and rounding your vowels can bring a rich warm quality to your voice. Oprah is a perfect example, she has a rich voice with [an] open body language.”
The voice is a tool which can be used to project all sorts of messages – 38% of any communication is vocal.
“Similar to choosing your bag or shoes in the morning ahead of a meeting, it’s just as important to be conscious of what your vocal quality is going to be like,” says Harrisberg.
And it seems women across the business spectrum are becoming increasingly aware of the power of their voice.
Tuletu Njengele, Deputy Director at Ikhala Public FET College in East London, says voice training helped her confidence levels.
“For a lot of women in executive positions, there are small things we overlook which can have a great impact on how we portray ourselves. Voice is one of these and it’s like an engine – you have to warm it up in the morning with exercises,” says Njengele.
“It’s amazing to see how controlling your voice can affect both your business and personal life. I have found it reduces stress levels, as I’ve learned how to control my breathing. It gives you a chance to consider your reply and deliver it in a controlled, confident way,” says Hannalie Marsh, a marketing director, who completed a course in voice training. She says it also improved her listening skills as she now waits before she replies.
“Putting color in your voice, such as lowering your pitch, can make a big impact. I have tested out different pitches, pace, tone, volume and it’s been very interesting to see the different reactions from audiences depending on these factors,” says Marsh.
Both Newton and Harrisberg also emphasize it’s important to drop your ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ out of sentences.

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Lung Power?

“Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety nine percent perspiration.”: a saying by Thomas Edison that could be applied to Brent Kairuz.
At the age of 19, he stopped being a karate instructor to open his first food outlet, Shawarma King. That was the beginning of a journey that would eventually see the 36-year-old own 28 coffee shops in partnership with South African food giant Famous Brands.
Kairuz arrived 30 minutes early at our office. Before we started, he firmly told me his intentions for agreeing to the interview.
“I’m very honored and grateful for this interview but I just want to be clear on how you want to angle it. If you want to angle it on the fact that there’s entrepreneurship, building a business outfit and how to do it then I’m more than welcome to give you the interview,” says Kairuz.
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Growing up in the south of Johannesburg, Kairuz has always had a passion for entrepreneurship, venturing into two businesses while in Glenvista High School. In standard 9 (grade 11), Kairuz coached karate and by the time he turned 18, he had 180 students at four different schools, generating a good income at the time.
“With some of the money I made from being a karate instructor, I bought equipment for my mobile disco company. I was a DJ at weddings, 21sts and different gigs while still being a karate instructor,” he says.
As good as he was in karate, he realized the risks of injury and how it could hamper him as a breadwinner.
So Kairuz went to varsity, after a year he dropped out to open Shawarma King, in the south of Johannesburg.
“I approached one of the student’s fathers who had a successful business for advice on possible ventures I could go into. He ended up giving me a loan of R30,000 ($1,800) and I used it to open up Shawarma King in 1998,” says Kairuz.
With hunger for success, Kairuz grew his Shawarma King business and by the time he was 20, he had five shops.
Three shops were in university canteens at Midrand University, Milpark Business School and Damelin Braamfontein, in Johannesburg.
“I called the shops Shawarma King but I had a fully-fledged menu. I had steak rolls, shawarmas, chips, burgers, you name it. I had a wont to be Steers,” chuckles Kairuz.
The downside of running the shops in varsity was that it wasn’t a year-round business because of holidays and exams and Kairuz wanted more.
A telephone conversation with a man who ran hospital coffee shops would allow him this opportunity. The man told Kairuz that he was getting out of the business because it wasn’t paying and Kairuz said he wanted in.
“I put the phone down, did my research on all the sites that his particular company was in and phoned the relevant hospitals, told them I have a coffee shop business that I’d like to see them about,” says Kairuz.
Kairuz didn’t own a coffee shop. One of the hospitals listened and gave him a chance. By the time he was 22, Kairuz got his first break.
“My first coffee shop looked like a franchise, felt like a franchise, had menus that gave variety and quality products like a franchise but we were not a franchise business,” says Kairuz.
In 2006, Kairuz formed a partnership with Royal Sechaba Holdings to merge all the Royal Sechaba coffee shops into Kairuz Café, under Kairuz Holdings. With this partnership, Kairuz grew from three coffee shops, to owning 49% equity in 10 hospital coffee shops, by 2008.
At this point, Kairuz wanted to franchise off the Kairuz Café but Royal Sechaba Holdings wasn’t keen, so, he bought their 51% equity and franchised out their stores.
“I retained two of the coffee shops and franchised the balance,” he says.
Kairuz was still interested in growing his business and looking for options to do so. He got a call informing him about a brand that was going into liquidation. When he called to inquire, he heard that the brand was going to be auctioned off in a closed auction within the hour.
He got into his car and quickly rushed to the auction venue where he ended up bidding against industry giants Famous Brands.
“After tying twice in the bidding, I said to them, ‘Do we need to carry on driving the price up? Can we not do a joint venture together like you’ve done with other Famous Brands businesses?’ and they declined,” says Kairuz.
In the third bid, Famous Brands ended up beating him by R1,000 (around $60) but they were impressed with how he took initiative to negotiate during the bidding process. This paved way for a new partnership as he got talking with the group CEO, whom he knew prior the bidding, and in May 2011, he formed a partnership with Famous Brands.
Kairuz Holdings and Famous Brands launched Creative Coffees and they set up coffee shops in three different hospital groups. For Life Healthcare they set up House of Coffees, for Mediclinic they set up Coffee Couture and for Netcare they created NetCafé.
“We had 28 coffee shops in various hospitals across South Africa under Creative Coffee all in captive business,” says Kairuz.
In March this year, Kairuz moved on, selling his 39% equity in Creative Coffee to Famous Brands.
When I suggested that he probably made a fortune in the buyout, he was very modest in his reply.
“Everyone always perceives the buyout to be bigger than what it is. It was a fair buyout, but it was good enough for me to reposition myself, start again and move on,” says Kairuz.
At present, Kairuz is weighing out his options for future endeavours and is creating a Juicy Lucy Smoothie from his Juicy Lucy brand.
“I’m currently doing a lot of consulting work for the likes of Famous Brands and looking at other business ventures for the future,” he says.
Kairuz is living proof that dedication and hard work pay off because, at the end of the day, that’s virtually all he had.

Let’s Do A Deal Over Coffee

All over the world, it is every professional football player’s dream to represent his country. In South Africa, Aaron Mokoena stands head and shoulders above the rest as the only player to earn a century of international caps. The 107 times that Mokoena ran onto the pitch with a Bafana Bafana shirt on his back proves that he is one of the greatest defenders African football has seen.
“Every game that I played for Bafana Bafana meant a lot to me and I gave my best whenever I put on the national team jersey. I am aware that I have a record as the country’s most capped player. That is a great honor for me and I am very excited about it. I used to cope well whenever I was marking top strikers from other countries because I was a dedicated defender. I played under many different coaches in the national team and I respected their position. Carlos Alberto Parreira really inspired me. He used to guide us well so that players could complement each other and win together as a team, ” says Mokoena, who led his country at a World Cup.
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“It is very important for the youngsters to be disciplined and focused when they want to achieve a lot with the national team like I did. They need to take their soccer career seriously, they need to work hard at training and put that extra effort in order to be competitive during the games,” he says.
Mokoena, who grew up as an Orlando Pirates supporter, has come a long way from the dusty streets of Boipatong, south of Johannesburg, when Jomo Sono identified his talent as a youngster. He only played few games for Sono’s club Jomo Cosmos before he went overseas.
Mokoena admired former South African captain Lucas Radebe and the impact he had made at Leeds United in England. It was the inspiration Mokoena used during his playing spells in Holland, Germany, Belgium and England. Playing in the English Premier League was a massive boost for his career as he consistently shone for both Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth. Playing in the FA Cup final against Chelsea in 2010 is one of the highlights of his career.
“I stayed for a short time at Cosmos and it was a good experience for me. I learned certain aspects of the game and the basics while I was at Cosmos. I was prepared to succeed wherever I went.”
Playing abroad would offer him a tougher challenge and Mokoena relished it.
“I had strong character and that is why I managed to handle the situation of living in the different countries abroad. I was very young but I dealt well with the challenges that I faced like the weather and the different languages,” says Mokoena, who was also honored with the Freedom of the City of London.
“I understood my position as a professional player. I understood that I needed to deliver whenever I got the opportunity. No matter who I teamed up with, I had to make sure that I helped the team get good results.
“Playing in England was a big step for me because I was playing in one of the best leagues in the world. The standard in England is very high and it is very competitive and I am happy that I made an impact at Blackburn and Portsmouth.”
When he returned to South African football at club level he was determined to give back at Premier Soccer League (PSL) club Wits.
“Coming back to play in South Africa again was a good feeling for me. I had some offers to go to other countries but I decided to come back home because of the professional structure and the good set-up at Wits.
“It was very encouraging to play alongside the players like Tinashe Nengomasha at Wits because he is a hard worker and he had the winning mentality.”
Captaining South Africa at the World Cup on home soil in 2010 was one of Mokoena’s proudest moments but it also provided his biggest disappointment when Bafana Bafana failed to qualify for the second round. He felt the team could have progressed further in the competition considering they were the host nation and they had massive support from home fans.
On the pitch, Mokoena had a reputation as a tenacious and tough tackler. It led to him being nicknamed Mbazo, which translated into English means the Axe. Off the pitch, he is humble and down to earth. He also feels the need to give back to the community. His Aaron Mokoena Foundation contributes to the underprivileged and donates much-needed sport equipment to schools.
“As a person I feel blessed with all that I have achieved. It is very important for me to make a difference to the community through my foundation. When I have a chance to help wherever I can, I do,” he says.
Two historic clubs in South African football, Kaizer Chiefs and Jomo Cosmos, were formed by former players Kaizer Motaung and Jomo Sono. Now it’s Mokoena’s turn to prove himself as a club owner. His passion for football is undeniable and running a team allows him to still be involved. He currently owns The Birds, a team that competes in the third division. He is also in negotiations to take over a second division side, the Vaal Legends.
“I feel there is a lot that I can offer as a club owner. There is a lot of talent in Boipatong and the entire Vaal area so I am determined to add value to the region.
“I am a very ambitious person and I feel very confident that I will succeed as a club owner because of my experience, passion and hard work.
“The development of soccer at the third division and second division level is very important. At The Birds I am the chairman and I am very committed to my duties. When the team is playing, I am around to give the players the necessary motivation. It is very important to have high spirit in the team. I communicate well with the players and I understand what they need. I make them aware of how they have to handle different kinds of situations in football.
“It is still early, however, I feel very optimistic that we will go far and achieve the goals that we set for ourselves.”
Mokoena, who drives top of the range cars, is a good role model for youngsters in the area. He is also always willing to give them advice.
Development at a grass-root level is vital to improve South African football. The South African Football Association (Safa), the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and the sports ministry should recognize the efforts former players like Mokoena. They are investing their own money in the game to take the game to a higher level.
The Axe is diving into this challenge with as much gusto as he did when he was facing top strikers around the world.

The Axe Grinds  Out His Goals

The goalkick sends the ball swirling into the air. It rises far into The Birds Football Club’s half. Almost a hundred spectators cheer as it plummets earthwards.
The wind picks up as two players jump for the ball. Instead of a graceful header, there is the ungraceful crunch of heads. The players land in a heap. The ball soars over. The crowd collectively grasp their own heads screaming ‘Eiiiisshhhh’. The Birds’ coach gets up, walks up to the crumpled players, shows them to the bench and then tells the referee to get on with it.
It’s been a tough afternoon for The Birds. Nothing seems to be going their way. The pitch is bumpy. Wind sprays red dirt in their eyes. The wind also pulls at the nets every now and then, forcing the goalkeepers to put it back into place.
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The match didn’t look good before a ball was kicked. The Birds got lost trying to find the ground. It’s not your usual football pitch. The field is squeezed at the back of a shopping plaza, between a taxi rank and a pen that has sheep, goats and a cow eating rubbish.
This is The Scientists Football Club home ground in Sebokeng, 60 kilometers from Johannesburg, and as far from the World Cup as you can get. But it’s football crazy. Hundreds watch teams they don’t even know. For the band of gangly high school hopefuls of The Birds, it’s just another game in the SAB League, the third tier of South African football.
Before the Birds saw their coach on the touchline, they saw him on television. Aaron Mokoena is the former captain of South Africa. Sebokeng is a far cry from the lush green grass of Soccer City where Mokoena led Bafana Bafana in the 2010 World Cup. You could argue he’s light years away from Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth where he was making £10,000 ($17,000) a week in the English Premier League. Now the man known as Mbazo needs his cutting edge to inspire The Birds on a field that’s more dust than grass.
“Guys, we have 45 minutes left. What do we do when we don’t have the ball? Put pressure. What do we do when we have it? Keep it… and have fun,” says Mokoena.
It was on even dustier pitches where Mokoena learnt to kick a ball. He grew up playing in Boipatong, 13 kilometers from Sebokeng, until Jomo Sono, another African footballer who made his fortune overseas, spotted him and convinced him to play for Jomo Cosmos. Mokoena then went to Ajax’s youth academy in Amsterdam after a grueling stint with African youth teams. Now he’s trying to do the same for others.
“I grew up here, and now it’s my chance to pay back the people who spotted me when I was young. I have had a side here for a number of years, but now I have the time to help develop them personally. There is so much talent here and it’s my goal to help local development feed into the provincial system.  If I could make it to where I got, I don’t see why I can’t help these boys get there. Sometimes you just need someone with a name to talk to the right people,” says Mokoena.
The coach also runs two other development academies; one in South Africa, the other in Britain. Until a few months ago, Mokoena couldn’t even imagine being a coach.
“When I would tour with teams I could never see myself in that position. Now I see that my experiences on the pitch are so valuable as a coach. You can’t beat that experience,” he says.
Mokoena has got plenty of it. From the age of 18 he was playing for South Africa. He also holds the record for the most Bafana Bafana appearances at 107, 63 of them as captain.
He might not hold many coaching accolades as yet, but he is set to change that. Mokoena has pinned his hopes on a few hopefuls in an amateur side to get there. One could say it’s a small step for Mokoena but a long flight for The Birds.

The Fledgling Birds And  The Million Dollar Brother

When Majida Nantanda – the coach of the Ugandan national women’s football team – was growing up, her four brothers treated her as an equal in their matches. She thought that was the way it was supposed to be.
When she went to school, she realized girls were not expected to run around kicking a ball. Nantanda’s opportunities to play the game were far fewer than those of her brothers. She knew that was not the way it was supposed to be.
Nantanda defied the odds, endured the jeers and forged a career in sport. Her determination and talent saw her play for the Ugandan national women’s football team for nine years. When she was done, she turned her attention to coaching and football development, with a twist.
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In 2009, Nantanda joined Tackle Africa, an organization that uses football for HIV/AIDS awareness among the youth. Her rationale was simple: “I committed to developing a grassroots football program to empower more girls and women in sports. But I also use football to address issues like health and education. Considering that football is by far the most popular sport in Uganda, if more coaches can be trained on how to provide HIV/AIDS education, it will have an important impact among the youth,” says Nantanda.
Nantanda offers something slightly different than her male counterparts, because she targets women’s education.
“For girls, it is about knowing their own rights, how to stand up for them and taking ownership of their bodies, something they learn through female coaches. Our female coaches teach girls to be strong, to speak up and make decisions. They work on empowering women to have free choice, particularly around their sex lives in an often male-dominated society,” says Tom Colborne, head of business development at Tackle Africa.
She is also a role model for young boys, who do not have the opportunity to meet many women in elevated positions within their societies. The female coaches are seen as figures of knowledge, confidence and authority, according to Colborne.
But it is not as simple as it sounds.
“I had many challenges in bringing a group of boys together to play organized football, and at the same time talk about an HIV topic related to the drill. Some parents discouraged their children when they heard I am speaking about condoms, but I did not lose hope. I explained to the parents, what, why and how football and life skills link together,” says Evelyn Achieng, a Tackle Africa coach in Kenya.
“I love the drills, we do them once a week. After we learn it, we practice and play it over and over until we remember it. Some drills show exactly what is happening in our bodies, so it is fun, but it is also important to learn. These games have really helped in my education. I am active, I listen and I concentrate. Here we all know each other and we help each other learn about discipline, HIV, life and making friends,” says Juma Christine, a beneficiary of Tackle Africa’s Kenyan project when he was younger.
Tackle Africa has 8,000 girls on their books, and 200 female coaches working in six countries across southern and East Africa. It is also working with the Tanzanian sports ministry to train 120 female coaches. Juliana Mokiwa is one of them and has already seen the dividends of her work pay off both in her personal life and in football.
“In Africa it is true that many women have no say with their husbands. Now, I have the knowledge about how I can make decisions. I have also learned different skills about football, which I will teach other coaches and players,” she says.
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Tackle Africa has seen the confidence and ability of female players grow, however footballing infrastructure remains a challenge, admits Colborne.
“There’s still a long way to go before there’s a women’s professional game in any of the countries we work in. Even the top division male players are rarely able to earn a decent living through the game. But, we see women’s national teams beginning to spring up and there are numerous organizations running women’s leagues,” he says.
Despite all that, Tackle Africa is not looking to unearth the next Nantanda, instead it is hoping to keep young people playing football, so they can reap the benefits associated with the program.
“We help female coaches to be better at coaching, so that they can develop players – not because we care about making better footballers, but because we know in order for our sessions to work, the coach must be credible [and only then will it have] young people coming back. With good female coaches, they can ensure girls attend their sessions as regularly as boys, and learn as much about football as they do about life.”

One Shot For GOAL Another At Life

How many of the 32 coaches that will going to the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in June will still have a job after the tournament remains to be seen. If past experience is anything to go by, at least half may be out of a job.
Some will be sacked; others will leave. The end of a big tournament is often the right time to take on a fresh challenge.
The World Cup is often a catalyst for change because it is the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next.
Most football associations around the world do their planning in four-year blocks, starting after one World Cup and leading up to the next. So, it is only natural that there will be some change after this year’s event in Brazil.
<div id="attachment_2672" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2672" class="size-medium wp-image-2672" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/180300328-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />GENEVA, SWITZERLAND &#8211; SEPTEMBER 10: Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque looks on during the Spain v Chile international friendly at Stade de Geneve on September 10, 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland. (Photo by Harold Cunningham/Getty Images)</div>
Being a coach, especially an international one, is a stressful job. Coaches are always under pressure to get results, it does not matter which team you are in charge of, from Spain to Djibouti, fans and media expect success—the measure of that success is the only thing that changes.
Even Vicente del Bosque, the current coach of Spain feels the pressure. He won the World Cup with his country in 2010 and followed that up by claiming the 2012 European Championships as well, arguably the two most difficult international competitions to win.
Defeats for Spain have been rare, but when they do come, such as in the final of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup against Brazil, or even the 1-0 loss to South Africa in a friendly in November, the questions that are asked of him, his players and his preparation are intense.
Del Bosque has built a level of expectation around the side and in so doing increased the pressure on himself. A single defeat is met with a lot of soul-searching. Goodness knows what would happen if they lost back-to-back matches, something that Spain has not experienced since 2006.
A lot of this pressure is also created by the media. It makes for great headlines and plenty of discussion online, but the truth of the matter is Del Bosque knows his job is under no real threat.
He has been tasked with taking Spain to the World Cup in Brazil and that is where the real pressure will kick in for him. What counts in his favor is that he knows he has the players to succeed.
Other coaches have different kinds of pressure, where the expectation for success is there but the playing personnel cannot back it up.
Coaches know better than anyone else the true quality of their players and just how much they can conceivably get out of them. They may get a bit of luck now and again to help them along the way, but for the most part they have to work within the constraints of their squad.
Being a national coach is vastly different to leading a side at club level.
With a club you work with the players six or seven days a week, you can work on their weaknesses and help them develop their strengths. You can sit through endless video sessions with them and analyze to a fine detail to try and get things right.
That is simply not the case at a national team level. You only have the players for a few days before a match. In that time your job is to decide which combinations will work best and try and get the side as organized as possible.
You can run some drills, you can provide some analysis of the opposition and sit through a few team meetings but that is about as far as it goes. Then, maybe, you see the players again two months later.
Leading up to a World Cup is different, where players are available for camps some three weeks before the start of the tournament. That is a slightly better scenario, but still nowhere near enough time to get your message across to your team like the coach of a club can.
That is why plenty of excellent club coaches have not been able to translate their success to the international stage. They are two very different roles. It is also why many coaches say the international game is not for them. They miss the daily interaction that club coaching brings.
Coaching at a national team level involves scouting for players, sitting through hours and hours of football on a weekend and knowing hundreds of players inside out.
There is a skill in knowing what you are looking for and picking players who complement one another. And, of course, you have to deal with the advice you receive from colleagues, agents and the media.
To be successful, coaches have to rise above that and need to have a clear picture of how they want their team to play and which players will best achieve that.
There is something to be said for carrying the hopes of a nation on your shoulders. Millions of people are expecting coaches to raise their spirits. That is real pressure, knowing that young and old are relying on you to provide the victories that will either leave the nation in a state of euphoria or despair.
Players often carry the blame in the media, but at the end of the day the buck stops with the coach and it is he who could lose his job. Players will keep on playing, maybe not for the national team but certainly their clubs, and their income is secured.
Coaches have to rely on their players to keep them employed. If you see a coach praying on the sidelines, it is often because they feel helpless.
As a coach you can pick the best players and devise the perfect plan but it only takes one small error from a defender, a slip by a goalkeeper or a penalty miss from a striker to lose a match. That is the thin margin between success and failure for many coaches.

If you want to coach your country—pray

As one of the millions of species that inhabit this earth we, as human beings, have a unique gift – the power to choose how we want to shape our way of being in the world. We may have been born with a certain disposition, but there is huge choice as to what we make of it.
As a leadership coach, I want each person I work with to be conscious of their personal leadership style, as it manifests in every avenue of their lives, both personal and professional. I get clients to pay attention to the language they choose and the impact of that choice both on themselves and those around them.
One company I have worked with has its weekly executive committee meetings in the ‘War Room’. The lang-uage of the War Room is military: Up to now, X has beaten us; next month we will destroy them. We must identify the weak spots. We must throttle them by the jugular.
However, the effectiveness of feminine energy is having an impact, slowly but surely. CEOs of some predominantly male boards are noticing that executive teams that include women are creatively different and solve problems more innovatively, less aggressively. Testosterone in the boardroom is not quite so predominant in these teams. A review of bottom-line performance of global companies suggests that diversity pays off.
Many women in leadership pos-itions have really struggled to get there. I coach women leaders who feel that they have had to work harder than the men around them to prove their worth. I have coached black women who feel burdened by affirmative action. They feel it is used to cast doubt on their ability, and that some people will say that race rather than excellence got them to the top.
However, there are women in leadership roles who have not only survived and won these battles, but have also adopted the aggressive ways that made their lives so tough.
I have worked with clients who experience certain women leaders as overly assertive. They even use the word ‘bully’ to describe the coercion used toward those who are weaker or who have less power.
How does bullying manifest in the world of business?
Unreasonable work requests made at any time of day. I am your boss. You will do this for me now, because I say so. I have the right to email you at 9pm and to expect you to respond.
Bullies translate the power of their status into the right to interrupt disrespectfully or even walk out of the room while you are still speaking.
The bully may also assume the right to criticize in a manner that is humiliating, sometimes in front of other colleagues.
Physically, bullies may ‘throw their weight around’ by using intimidating body language, volume and tone of voice.
But beware of the subtle bullies; those who exercise a more sophisticated, psychological bullying smile and who smile while they turn the screws.
How do women support each other when there is a female bully in our midst? I have noticed many women choosing silence. Either they are fearful of offering critical, supportive feedback (after all, the person is a bully and bullies often respond by lashing out), as they are worried that such a reaction will be career limiting. Or as a woman, they do not want to be seen as critical of another woman. Some simply resign and hope that the retention problem will be noticed.
However, I have also observed collusion and denial. The wish to have women represented at senior levels can translate into silence around inappropriate leadership behaviors.
It pains me to witness women leading badly. It does not have to be this way. We can choose another path. The available literature indicates the enhanced business results from leadership styles that encourage, motivate, build, validate, appreciate, respect boundaries, and pay attention to timeous constructive criticism.
The Tao Te Ching, a classic text by the ancient Chinese poet, Lao Tzu, is widely acknowledged in the world’s wisdom literature. The last stanza of his chapter 76 reads:
An army that cannot yield will be defeated A tree that cannot bend  will crack in the wind Thus by Nature’s own decree the hard and the strong are defeated while the soft and gentle are triumphant.
As women leaders we have power. Let us use it wisely. Let us play to the strengths of the feminine. Let us design the brand we aspire to build. Let us work out how best to support each other and hold one another accountable.

WOMEN POWER: THE ABILITY TO CHOOSE WISELY

Soccer-loving young girls in northern Kenya may never have heard of Elham Sayed Javad, but they have a lot to thank her for. If it was not for the Canadian-based fashion designer, they would not be able to play in official tournaments.
Javad created a hijab which operates magnetically. It opens and releases if it is pulled from anywhere around the neck area. Her design was one of the two approved by FIFA in June last year, when it lifted its ban on the religious garment, which had been in place for five years due to safety concerns.
<div id="attachment_5872" style="width: 268px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5872" class="size-medium wp-image-5872" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/000_Nic502245-258x300.jpg" alt="" width="258" height="300" />Bahraini player Muna al-Edaysi (R) vies with Palestnian Nivin al-Kolayb during their Women&#8217;s Arabia Cup football match in Manama on October 27, 2010. AFP PHOTO/ADAM JAN</div>
The ruling means women and girls who wear the hijab for religious reasons can now play in competitive soccer competitions. Having overcome that hurdle, all that was left for the girls from the Horn of Africa (Hodi region) was to find a competition to participate in.
Last year’s East Africa Cup presented them with a rare opportunity. The event is organized for youths between the ages of 11 and 16. It combines a range of sporting and cultural events and is lauded for highlighting gender issues. Apart from that, the team have little else.
There is no girls’ or women’s league to play in, and any ambitions of representing the country, while admirable, may prove little more than a pipe dream.
The level the Kenyan girls would have looked at, the under-17 event, appears to be one of the most problematic in their country and many others on the continent.
Kenya withdrew from the under-17 World Cup qualifiers in August because of what they claim was a logistical issue with their opponents, Equatorial Guinea. Kenya claimed the Equatoguineans’ communication regarding match details such as the venue and the kick-off time, as well as confirmation of visas, was received too late.
What actually occurred is not clear. Equatorial Guinea’s media had reported that Kenya may not arrive, but on the match day, August 16, activities went ahead as planned. The officials were present, the Equato-
guinean team warmed up, and stood to attention for their national anthem.
They were even instructed to kick off, and did, scoring a goal before the match was awarded in their favor because of the Kenyan no-show.
Farce aside, Equatorial Guinea have now qualified for the final playoffs which will decide which three African sides travel to Costa Rica for next year’s under-17 women’s World Cup. They will play Ghana in a two-legged tie this month.
The other clashes will be between Zambia, who beat Botswana to advance to this stage, and South Africa, who received a bye into the deciding stage. Nigeria were also given a free passage to the last six and will face Morocco.
For Kenya, all that’s left is disappointment and questions. While some of their aspiring players received a boost in the form of the lifting of the ban on the hijab, others were left high and dry by the under-17 shenanigans.
Their coach, Florence Adhiambo, says incidents like this make it difficult for the girls to stay motivated.
“It’s heartbreaking to see things like this happen. It discourages girls who have just started with their careers,” she says.
She is not alone in these sentiments. Former Nigeria captain Flo-rence Omagbemi, who was on the organizing committee for the 2012 under-17 World Cup, and remains on it for next year’s event, echoed those thoughts at a meeting in Zurich.
“All is not well with the game at the moment in Africa and we need to act fast to salvage the situation,” she says. “We have a lot of talented young girls with great passion for the game but they have no support from their federations. The soccer administrators are not doing much to help improve women’s soccer.”
The most obvious example of that is in the lack of fixtures. The African Women’s Championship has been taking place biennially since 1998 (the men’s has been going since 1957) and age-group qualifications are also held every two years. But the number of countries pulling out means the competition is often marred by the cancellation of fixtures.
More tellingly, there are no fully professional leagues in the women’s game on the continent. That leaves it lagging behind places like the United States, where the women’s game is run the same way as the men’s.
As a consequence, Nadi Sora, the coach of the Hodi girls’ team, explains they don’t have much to aspire to.
“There are no female role models, so there is still discrimination against girls. The whole community enjoys sport, but the girls do not have leagues, we just have tournaments, so we have to wait for a tournament to compete,” she says.
One woman to look up to is the president of Burundi’s football association, Lydia Nsekera, the first woman on FIFA’s executive committee, and who was profiled on these pages last month. Nsekera agrees that without regular competitive matches, women’s soccer will continue to lag behind. She has also identified financial reasons as one of the main roadblocks to developing the women’s game.
“In Africa, there are people who question the rationale for funding female football. But I am confident that, with the right encouragement, women’s football will evolve and reach the level of men,” Nsekera says decisively.
South Africa is one place where corporates have been captivated by the women’s game. In June, Sasol announced a four-year extension of its sponsorship for Banyana Banyana, the national women’s team, and the semi-professional soccer league for women. Many players in the league combine playing soccer while they are still studying.
At least in South Africa, there is some form of encouragement for girls to think seriously about the game. In other countries, especially those with more traditionalist ideas of the role of women, it is frowned upon for girls to take up the game.
FIFA’s unbanning of the hijab has helped for some, but Sora reveals that the Hodi girls’ team still face reprisal from their neighbors.
“The community looks down on us, they curse us and say things to us like, ‘you should not disrespect your culture’, but we continue to play, because when we play football, we are free.”
What the youngsters need are more people like Nassra Juma Mohammed, the founder of Zanzibar’s Women Fighters FC. Mohammed was inspired by the Swedish women’s soccer team, who visited the island in 1998, and wanted to start her own club.
The team are another of Africa’s success stories. They are sustainable because they draw funds from a small shop Mohammed started. And they are successful because their determination, more than their love of the game, allows them to challenge everyone from teachers to their husbands as they fight for their right to play soccer.
Some of the people standing in their way are hard-line religious men who claim women should not play soccer because “they shouldn’t wear shorts”. Even though these women continue to rebel against such restrictive ideals, if any one of them was to agree with the idea or felt she would have a better chance if she covered up, she need only don one of Javad’s hijabs to adhere to Islam, stay on the right side of the FIFA’s laws and still play the beautiful game.

Hijhab scores a goal against FIFA

All eyes are on new Bafana Bafana head coach, Gordon Igesund, to deliver for the national side as Afcon 2013’s kick-off date draws closer.
Igesund took over from Pitso Mosimane after a string of poor results from Bafana Bafana. He signed a two-year, performance-based contract with the South Africa Football Association (Safa) and has the task of, at the very least, getting Bafana Bafana to the semi-finals of the tournament.
Igesund has a solid track record in South Africa, having won league titles with four different teams—Manning Rangers, Orlando Pirates, Santos and Mamelodi Sundowns.
<div id="attachment_1496" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1496" class="size-medium wp-image-1496" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/1578892-300x233.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="233" />3 Feb 1996: The captain of the winners of the African Cup of Nations Final Neil Tovey of South Africa holds the cup aloft after President Mandela presented it to him. South Africa won 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Mark Thompson/ALLSPORT</div>
However, so far results have been patchy. Igesund’s first game in charge was against former world champions Brazil. They lost 1-0 but Bafana Bafana’s overall performance was impressive. Igesund was content with the high work rate that players displayed on the field. His second test was against low-ranked Mozambique. Bafana Bafana won 2-0 convincingly against their neighbors. Bafana Bafana showed great character and strong determination against Poland but were unlucky to lose 1-0, away from home. Most recently, Bafana Bafana managed to bag a victory at the expense of Kenya with a 2-1 score in an interesting battle.
Igesund believes the results show that the team is on the right track as they gear up for Afcon 2013 that kicks off at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.
“I have confidence in our players, that they have what it takes to deliver. [During] my first game, when we played against Brazil, I did not spend a lot of time with the players but they displayed high standard performances and gave Brazil a tough game.
“The players were playing an exciting passing game and they complemented each other well. It was a pity Brazil scored and we ended up losing,” says the coach.
In their most recent game, Igesund says that Bafana was faced with tough conditions but prevailed.
“It was a bumpy pitch, but we did cope and got a win away from home. That was an important result for us,” he says.
Still the pressure is on for the coach. The glory days of the 1996 Bafana Bafana team, under coach Clive Barker, that lifted the trophy means the team has high expectations. Afcon is back on South African soil and the nation will remember the 2-0 victory over Tunisia with goals delivered off the boot of striker Mark Williams.
Igesund says support is crucial.
“The support that we have from the nation will motivate us.”
South Africa has a dream start to the tournament that kicks off on January 19, at Soccer City in Johannesburg. They are in group A and will kick-off with a match against debutantes Cape Verde. Also in the group are Morocco and Angola.
Igesund says they’ll be ready and won’t dismiss Cape Verde or any of the other teams in the group.
“We will be ready to make the country proud by the time the tournament starts. Cape Verde might be making their debut in the finals but they will be a tough team considering they eliminated giants like Cameroon. Morocco is one strong team and Angola cannot be underestimated,” says Igesund.
It’s all about starting on a good footing.
“We have to take all our opening games seriously, in order to do well in our group.”
Bafana Bafana has a number of challenges. Former captain Steven Pienaar, who played for Everton in the English Premiership, has retired from international football.
Igesund has recalled Benedict McCarthy. Though experienced, the Orlando Pirates forward has been out of action for a while due to injury. The other influential player who is also uncertain is Kaizer Chiefs defender Morgan Gould. Igesund has not been able to select him for recent games because Gould has been battling with a long-term injury.
And most tragically, the squad will also be without first assistant coach Thomas Madigage who was killed in a car crash in October. The loss of Madigage has hit the Bafana camp hard.
“Tommy was very close to me. It is unfortunate that he will not be around during the tournament. He was a very important member in the team,” says Igesund.

Gordon Is Ready for Anything

Ten years is a long wait, especially when you’re 42. It seems even longer when you’re a professional golfer. When you’re one of the former elite golfers in the world, it’s a lifetime. That’s how long it has been since Ernie Els’ last major triumph, in 2002.
It was said he was done, that he should hang up his clubs. It’s a good thing Ernie Els wasn’t listening, or maybe he was.
The birdie, courtesy of a beautiful silky putting stroke at the 72nd hole, was the final flourish. It meant he won by a stroke in the British Open at Royal Lytham &amp; St Annes on July 22 to become a four-time major champion.
The overnight leader, Australian Adam Scott, stole most of the headlines, as he let a four-shot lead slip in the final round, with four consecutive bogies in a stunning collapse. Yet it was Els, who had been on the wrong end of a denouement several times before, who was rewarded for a breath-taking performance.
“In March I looked like an absolute fool,” Els said with hesitation in his voice, alluding to a number of tournaments being thrown away from a winning position earlier in the year.
<div id="attachment_1200" style="width: 195px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1200" class="size-medium wp-image-1200" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/110564455_10-185x300.jpg" alt="" width="185" height="300" />Ernie Els of South Africa with his son Ben who suffers from Autism enjoying time on the course during the Els for Autism Pro-am at The PGA National Golf Club on March 21, 2011 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)</div>
“People were laughing at me and making jokes about me and really hitting me low, saying I’m done and I should hang it up. So to come through and make a putt like that and make pressure putts on the back nine, that was the whole goal. That was the whole thing. Going through all the different feelings and processes&#8230; So to sit here with it (he points to the trophy) now is quite satisfying.”
Els, in combination with visual skills and performance coach, Sherylle Calder, turned around his game. He had not won anywhere since the South African Open in December 2010 and many thought he had passed his sell-by date.
Together with Calder, Els completely reworked the way he approached his putting—which had been his Achilles’ heel in his winless streak—to produce a confident and winning stroke. Calder has coached everyone from the All Blacks rugby team to the South African cricket team in improving their hand-eye coordination.
“When you’ve been where I was, you have no confidence in putting, you don’t want to have that one coming back. It comes from retraining your whole outlook on putting. And that’s why I started working with Sherylle, just changed the whole thing, mind-set, training, everything. And I was really going from a totally different angle, which I liked, because I tried everything else.”
Els, since winning that last major a decade ago, learned that his young son, Ben, aged 10, has autism. Digesting that news alone seemed to have an effect on his game and the wins dried up after 2010 as Els entered his 40s.
Els said it wasn’t easy to live up to his nickname—The Big Easy.
“Yeah, well, that’s easier said than done, isn’t it? This game is a tough game we play. It’s a physical game. It’s a mental game. You’ve got to have your wits with you, otherwise you have a missing link and it doesn’t quite all come together. So to play the game as long as I have, for 23 years now as a professional, you’re bound to go through every emotion out there and most of the things happen to you.”
The former world-number one believed that his changed attitude was the deciding factor.
“I’ve done what Adam has done before. Just about everything that can happen in the game of golf, I’ve gone through. So to come through all that and sit here and speak to you guys with the Claret Jug is crazy. And it comes from a good attitude, yeah, being a bit more relaxed and believing in yourself.”
Els turns back to his son, and how he thought of him during the final round to help him achieve the win.
“I made a lot of putts with Ben in mind today, because I know Ben’s watching. He loves when I hit golf balls. He’s always there. He comes with me. He loves the flight of the ball and the sound. I know he was watching today, and I was trying to keep him—because he gets really excited. I wanted to keep him excited today, so I made a lot of putts for him today.”
Els admitted he has lost more often in his career than he has won, but that he could always feel the difference all was well&#8230;
“It’s amazing this game, you know. You have a positive feel; you give yourself positive vibes, sometimes positive things happen. And I think I’ve been in such a negative mode for a while, and now that I’m starting to feel more positive, obviously things happen, especially on the back nine where I haven’t really done the job.”
Els also explained how he felt he had to thank former President Nelson Mandela for the encouragement he had given him during his career—especially the early parts of the 1990s.
“If I win, I told myself, I’d better thank President Mandela because I grew up in the era of apartheid and then changing into the democratic era, and President Mandela was right there. And right after the change, I was the first one to win a major.”
“And so there’s a lot of significance there in my life, from the change from that and then President Mandela becoming president and me winning a golf tournament. And then him getting on the telephone with him talking to me when I was in Pittsburgh, Oakmont [the 1994 US Open]. So in a way we intertwined together in a crazy way. And I just felt he’s been so important for us being where we are today as a nation and as sports people.”
Els has now come full-circle, from promising major-winning talent, to the also ran, to the comeback kid. The Big Easy is back and ready to win again.

Ernie, Who Els?

Brenda Howden wears her eminence and her gold medal lightly.
“I don’t blow my own trumpet. A lot of children here do not know I have won an Olympic gold medal,” she smiles.
Howden is a picture of fitness and understatement, on this cool winter’s afternoon at Auckland Park Preparatory School in Johannesburg, where she is headmistress. As well as her eminence, she also wears lightly her blue 1980 Olympics jacket. It fits like a glove and you can easily imagine she could still tear down the wing, hockey stick in hand.
It is ironic that, 32 years ago, Howden, then known as Brenda Phillips, was considered too weak to make the grade at the Olympics. She was one of the Bulawayo contingent, which included striker Pat McKillop, goalkeeper Sarah English and Helen Volk.
Howden, then 22, was teaching at her old school in Bulawayo, Townsend High School, when the call to Moscow came. The excitement was tempered by doubt over whether she was strong enough.
“For the next six weeks I had to get up at 4am and got for weightlifting in the gym. Then I had to go to school to teach and during break time I would practise goal shooting. Then, after school, I would go over the road to the nearby race track and run until 9pm at night,” she says.
Howden made it to Moscow and was surprised by what she found. The streets were drab, the shop windows were empty and there were queues for food.
“It seemed that everything was in black, white or grey. We could go into our cafeteria at the Olympic village and order whatever we wanted, but outside people were suffering,” she says.
Security was tight at the Games, but for the team, who were all very young, it was a golden excursion, as well as a sporting event. Howden kept a scrapbook that tells the story of the entire trip; from the good luck cards before they went; to a program from the ballet; pictures of the Kremlin and even a photograph of Britain’s Steve Ovett on his victory lap, after winning his only Olympic gold medal in the 800 meters.
“We even bunked one night to go and see the Moscow underground. It is beautiful and the stations had chandeliers in them,”she says.
There was a huge crowd when the team touched down in Harare. Drum majorettes were on the tarmac and people packed the airport. In the crowd was 11-year-old Lindsey Carlisle on her father’s shoulders.
“The plane was late, but that didn’t dampen our enthusiasm. When they came out we were all looking for the gold medals around their necks,” says Carlisle.
“The arrivals hall was full. I remember seeing the captain Ann Grant and we moved closer so I could touch her medal and I knew then what I wanted to do with my life. I turned to my dad and said I want one of those one day. He said I had better start working towards it.”
True to her word, Carlisle, who grew up in Zimbabwe, but was born in Johannesburg, became captain of the South African hockey team. She went to two Olympics, Sydney and Athens, but brought back no medals and could have been forgiven for being disappointed.
“I never really thought of it that way. Just going to the Olympics and being regarded as one of the best athletes in the world is good enough for me.”
Howden flew home to Bulawayo where schoolchildren had been bussed in from miles around to clap her through arrivals. In the months that followed, she replied to fan mail and autograph hunters from around the world and attended numerous functions and speaking engagements. In 1984, she moved from Bulawayo to South Africa, where she is married with two sons, and where she trains youngsters in hockey.
“I would like to go back to Moscow one day, just to see what it looks like. I am told it has changed,” she says.
“I have no regrets. The Olympics stood me in good stead and it taught me how to fight to the top and never give up.”
Golden words from a golden girl.

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