Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 129, April 2020 | Page 35

The coach
Waleed and his wife, Gabieba
smashed the provincial record in the pentathlon for
under-16 girls in 2016. She has also become one of
the province’s most consistent track athletes, making
the Western Province team regularly and becoming
the only athlete in the history of her school to win gold
medals at WP Champs every year that she was at the
school. Understandably proud of her achievements,
Waleed says he is also privileged to coach her.
“It helped to discover that Ameerah showed potential
at an early age and I could then nurture her talent, as
well as the other talents within the communities I was
working in. She often steps up in the high pressure
moments and has hit many PB’s during tough
conditions. Seeing her do well is a blessing, but if I
am honest the biggest high is spending time with my
kids on a daily basis, just doing what we all love and
sharing this passion for sport with them.”
Waleed is quick to add that his faith is what motivates
and inspires him in life and coaching. “Sport is
definitely in my blood, but I take inspiration from my
beliefs. Few people know that the prophet, peace be
unto him, was actually a very sporty person. He used
to race his wife, but let her win all the time. He knew
how to build family and friendships, understanding
the greater calling of serving humanity. I follow this
example and hope that I can serve humanity in the
same manner,” says Waleed.
“Having my family share in this journey and be as
involved as they are is another blessing that drives me
forward. My wife Gabieba has been a rock, as she has
allowed me to put countless hours into the successful
running of the club. Her guidance, input and assistance
has known no boundaries, as without her we would not
have reached many of the milestones that we have.”
A Family Effort
Known as the mother of Ultra Athletics, Gabieba
is also a coach in her own right, with a level 2
ASA qualification and specialising in the jumping
disciplines. One of her athletes broke a record at
this year’s Western Province Champs. Meanwhile,
daughters Tauhira and Ameerah also have their
own unique roles to play in the club. Tauhira assists
with the younger athletes as well as conducting
assessments on all new athletes, while Ameerah has a
dual role as a star performer while also being a mentor
to the rest of the athletes at the club.
Ameerah with SA hurdles
star Antonio Alkana
attend to yet, so we continue to work virtually and
find innovative ways to interact with the athletes. We
believe in turning adversity into a positive, and will
continue to work towards improving the athletes’
performances.”
Thus the club has always looked to improve its
systems and mechanisms in order to enhance its
athletes’ experiences. This saw the club develop an
online portal in conjunction with the Sports Science
Institute a few years back to accurately monitor each
athlete’s performance, training, physiology and eating
patterns. In this way they are able to adopt a more
professional approach and are able to assist any
athlete chase success. The portal can track an athlete
from week to week, month to month as well as over
an entire season, and athletes and their parents can
access the data and monitor their progress.
Waleed with Caster Semenya
create a safe space where athletes can train without
interruptions and realise their true potential.
Aside from his ‘9 to 5’ job at Compudata, Waleed
is fully invested in the betterment of athletics and
coordinates athletic events while doing various
coaching clinics at clubs and schools. Having made
the decision some years ago that the best way for
him to pursue excellence in athletics was to assist
others in reaching their dreams, he says this journey
has been an empowering one. “Coming from an
underprivileged community and understanding the
challenges these kids face made the decision to focus
on those communities easy. We look ahead and keep
on moving forward.”
The coach’s work is paying off for the
youngsters
The club also has various WhatsApp groups for
athletes to be in direct contact with their coaches
when they have any questions about training. “We use
instructional videos as a resource, especially for the
newer athletes that don’t always understand what a
specific routine may look like. They can follow along
with the video and then be able to do the exercise
properly,” says Waleed.
Ready to Step Up
The big goal for Waleed and the club now is to build
on the provincial and national success achieved, and
take their journey to the international level. He says
that with the right exposure and partners involved,
they can do this, and at the same time assist many
more athletes in their communities to realise their
potential. To make this possible, they would ideally
love to build their own track facility and have their
athletes call that a home away from home, in order to
Waleed leads a coaching clinic for school teachers
“During the lockdown, Ameerah is responsible for
doing the instructional videos that are assisting our
athletes to continue their training while staying home,”
says Waleed. “We are not treating the COVID-19
pandemic as a setback, we see it as an opportunity
to work on things we did not have a chance to
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