WALKING
Training at UJ
in my Grandmother ’ s yard , watching both my parents succumbing to a lifestyle of unemployment , which leads to depression , drug abuse and sickness . As kids , we had to witness all of this , experience it , but I salute my older brother , Joswin , for looking after us younger brothers ,” he says .
Things began to change in 2005 , when Reggie became friends with another young boy living in a children ’ s home . “ I visited him and liked it there , so I asked if I could stay there , too . I was only 13 , but I knew I wanted change , and somehow felt that there had to be more to life . The children ’ s home referred my case to the social welfare department , and not long after that , somebody came to look at our home situation . They said kids couldn ’ t live in such circumstances , and I told him about the children ’ s home nearby , so that ’ s how my younger brother , Roman , and I ended up in the home . We had only been there for a week or two when my dad passed away . Joswin had already moved out due to the verbally abusive conditions , so sadly , my dad died alone .”
Reggie stayed in the children ’ s home till 2012 , then moved to Johannesburg to begin his studies at the University of Johannesburg , after earning a scholarship thanks to his race walking achievements . He had actually begun participating in athletics when he was only about seven or eight years old , thanks to members of the Schauderville community . “ We had guys in the community who were runners or involved in athletics , like Uncle Godfrey and Mr Leo , some of whom even served on the Board of Eastern Province Athletics ( EPA ), so we kids often went to races with them . We also used to run barefoot around the streets of PE , and in primary school I ran the 1500m , but I was only average middle-distance running ,” he says .
Walking Talent
It was when he began attending DF Malherbe High School that Reggie discovered he had a talent for race walking . “ One day I was teasing the walkers , when Aunty Doreen and the school athletics coach , Mr Martin Smith , challenged me to try it . I actually liked it , but it was only when I became provincial under-15 champion in grade nine that I started taking it seriously . I went to the National Schools Champs that year and finished 10th , then in 2008 won the bronze medal in the under-18 10,000m at SA Youth Camps . I was captain of the EP under-18 and under-20 teams , but I always seemed to finish fourth in most champs races . Living in a children ’ s home was not easy , and I went through a lot of emotional stuff , including an identity crisis , which all affected my performance .”
After matriculating in 2009 , Reggie took a gap year in 2010 , then began studying sport management at Varity College in PE in 2011 . Later that year , at the SA Race Walking Champs in Cape Town , he met top SA walker Michelle Hopkins and asked her for training advice . She worked at the University of Johannesburg ( UJ ) at the time , and along with coach Carl Meyer , helped Reggie get a sport bursary to go study at UJ . Signed up for a diploma course in transportation management , Reggie says he struggled to adapt to the new sporting environment .
“ At UJ , I was now a small fish in a very big pond . The standard of competition was so high , on another level , and my athletics career just went backwards … There was still some success , though . In my first year , in 2012 , I was fourth at the USSA Champs , and also got my Central Gauteng colours , which was a dream come true . By 2013 I was still competing , but that is
Competing for Central Gauteng at the SA Champs
Reggie with UJ team mates , including Michelle Hopkins
when I started focusing more on my creative side , through acting and music , and even though I let my walking slide , I am still so thankful to UJ for giving me the opportunity in the first place ,” says Reggie .
The transition from sport to the arts had actually begun as soon as Reggie arrived in Johannesburg . “ In 2012 I immediately got involved in acting , singing , writing and scriptwriting , and I tried to push all my energy into creating . It started with my first year residence play , then I auditioned at the UJ Arts Centre . UJ does not have an academic drama department , but students can still learn from some of the best in the industry through campus productions and activities . For that reason , I actually think I learnt more outside the classroom than inside while at UJ , and through adapting to the lifestyle of Joburg , so while my walking fell by the wayside , I feel like the university helped me a lot in finding myself .”
Finding the Right Stage
So , while Reggie completed his diploma course from 2012 to 2014 and tried to keep going with the walking , he was putting more and more focus on various other activities . “ I think I had always had a gift for creativity and arts , starting in high school . Since I was 14 , I had also had an on-off relationship with writing , and that really picked up at university when I started writing for Varsity Sport and the UJ newspaper . I think I tried to do too much at first , and didn ’ t focus on anything , but eventually it was the arts – writing , acting , music , producing – that won the day .”
In 2013 he auditioned for a choir called Gospel Goes Beyond , which was signed to a record company , and in 2014 they put out an EP containing five tracks . Then in 2015 , while doing a bridging year to qualify to do a B . Tech degree , Reggie struck out on his own and enjoyed immediate success . “ That October , I won the UJ Can You Sing , which was like a UJ version of Idols , and that was a highlight for me in my university life . I had never really believed in competitions before , but I went out to win it .” In between the singing , he was also part of several stage productions that went to the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown .
In 2016 Reggie started his B . Tech , but says he simply didn ’ t enjoy it , and by July had decided to drop out . “ By then I had gotten more involved in doing commentary for BackTrack Sports , writing and creating , and decided to focus on that as a career . Fortunately , I was then offered a short-term job with Stillwater Sports & Entertainment , so I moved to Stellenbosch in the Cape . I was hired to write and research , do commentary at events , and help
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