PASSING THE BATON – why I have my mom to thank
It’ s crazy to think we’ re already a third of the way through 2026. May is the month we celebrate all the mothers in our lives, so I thought I’ d give a special shout-out to my own dear mom as she is the one who sparked the love of sport in me from a young age.
While attending Potch Girls’ High back in the 1960s, she excelled in sport herself, playing first-team hockey and, believe it or not, cricket. It seems they were way ahead of their time, offering cricket as a sports option for women. One of her favourite stories from that time is how they were brought in to provide a visiting England women’ s team with a warm-up game before they took on the national side. Apparently, the bruise she sustained from a ball that snuck underneath the pad and onto her ankle lasted for weeks!
But it was those Saturday afternoons in front of the TV with my mom that really inspired me to become involved in the world of sport, following our triumphant readmission to the international fold. It was those early Cricket World Cups, the 1995 Springboks, and relishing every minute of the Olympic Games broadcasts. All with my mom shouting her encouragement( and advice) at the screen!
It was the sense of optimism that permeated the newly democratic South Africa and all its sports teams that really captivated me. And while we’ ve experienced plenty of tumultuous times since then, I love the fact that sport continues to inspire.
So, we have plenty of stories to inspire you this month – from swimmer Calvyn Justus’ s incredible comeback, going from being bedridden to qualifying for the Commonwealth Games, to Joburg runner Donovan
Shirley’ s remarkable double Comrades bid to raise funds for mental health groups. Catch up with our latest world-record breaker, Puseletso Mabote, our national wheelchair basketball team and read all about how a national chess champion is shaping the minds of the country’ s athletes.
And, of course, we have the World Relays coming up this weekend in Botswana to look forward to. Make sure you read our preview in the mag and don’ t forget to follow Modern Athlete’ s social media channels for athlete interviews and coverage from Gaborone.
Back to the moms, you can find out how motherhood has changed the lives of some of the country’ s top athletes and what their advice is to those thinking of taking on the epic endurance event that is parenthood. There’ s also the usual great mix of nutrition advice, workout tips and all-round motivation served up by our regular columnists.
We hope you enjoy the read and, as always, please let us know your thoughts and feedback. We love hearing from you.
Until next month,
Karien Jonckheere karien @ modernathlete. co. za
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