"I was at ease with the sport from the start and from then on, rugby became a very important aspect of my life. When I first made the Sharks team, I realised what rugby could mean for me and started to really invest back into the game."

"I was offered a scholarship at university because of rugby and that opened even more doors for me. And look where I am now."

"That first year was tough for me, I was young and it was tough mentally, as I was suddenly playing amongst senior players"

"In fact, at one stage that year I almost quit, but I realised that criticism towards me was not personal, but to improve as a player"

"I am a quiet person, but was told that I had to become more forceful in communicating if I wanted to succeed on the field of play. Once I understood not to take it personally and to actually do that, I became a better player"

"It made me realise that I was noticed by the national coaches and the fire to one day play for the Springbok Women was burning bright after that"

"There were so many emotions and thank yous that flooded me, It will be such a special occasion for me, but emotions aside, I have a job to do out there"

".I don’t know if I will miss touch or drop a high ball, but what I do know is that I will leave nothing out there. I will play my heart out on that field, in honour of all who made this possible."

"Making my Springbok Women debut last year was an absolute dream come true! It was a moment I had worked towards for years, and to finally wear the green and gold jersey was an incredible honour."

"My immediate goals are to absorb as much as I can from the coaches, senior players, and the team’s culture. I want to develop a deeper understanding of the team’s playing style, strategies, and expectations."

"Even though women’s rugby is becoming more and more popular, there is still a big support and sponsorship imbalance. It is more difficult for female athletes to find support since many potential sponsors give preference to men’s sport."

"Having a sponsor would offer inspiration and emotional support. It would increase my confidence and motivation to succeed to know that someone thinks highly of me and my skills."

"As a young athlete, I think there are a few essential aspects that can improve our prospects of getting sponsorship. Professional online presence so employers can more easily locate and evaluate us. When we have a great website and social media profiles that highlight our accomplishments, abilities, and personalities (it can work in our favour)."

"We also need to be clear on our goals and vision. As well as outlining our present and future goals, both on and off the pitch. That will show our determination, drive, and success potential. Unique value proposition by emphasising our unique promoting points, such as our abilities, character, or community service, helps companies see how supporting us will enhance their brand."

"Although there have been notable advancements in women’s sport sponsorship, more work remains until women’s sports are on level with men’s sports. I think the following actions can be made to guarantee that more funds are allocated to supporting female athletes."

"Increased internet and television coverage of women’s sports can draw in new sponsors, viewers, and sources of income. It is important to encourage sponsors to develop focused advertising strategies that highlight the distinctive qualities and experiences of female athletes"

"Organisations ought to launch targeted campaigns and programs aimed at assisting female athletes and women’s sports. Governments as well as companies can fund grassroots initiatives, top athlete development, and the infrastructure of women’s sports. The idea that women’s sports are truly less important or marketable must be eliminated."

"My goal is to build myself as a reliable player and solidify my spot on the national squad. Make myself a consistent player and join the team for the 2025 World Cup."

"So starting from the domestic games, coming into national games, I’ve just been determined to keep my game on point and grow so much from it. I then took motivation from my teammates and learned from them"

"I’m one of the youngest players in this team. So I’m always talking with the most experienced player.So staying with them in the same environment just motivates me. And then the thing that they say to me is something that motivates a person. So I think that’s also the thing that they advise me on.That’s the thing that keeps me going"

"I believe in anti-racism so much because I believe it's at the core of us solving so many other social issues 12 May, 2025"

"The minute we lose the ability to see the humanity in the next person that looks different from you—that's when racism is planted into the fibre of society, and that's when we desensitize ourselves to the importance of existing in a just and equitable world with people that look different from us"

"As much as the apartheid regime has no longer been constitutionalised, racism hasn't disappeared"

"I first-hand got to see racism from my identity not being welcomed or understood"

"The generation of Nelson Mandela brought political emancipation. But political emancipation doesn't exist without economic and mental emancipation"

"Laws can change, but people still have to change"

"I've realised that a big part of fighting racism deals with the mind — and the only way to unlock and liberate the mind is through access to knowledge"

"the oppressed — Black people, people of colour — need to get to a point where they take themselves out of their own mental prison and liberate their minds"

"I believe that books play a big role, especially books by Africans, in seeing representation, seeing yourself being written up in a positive light, seeing your existence reflected in the pages of literature"

"One of the things that the apartheid regime was very successful at was making all schools in rural areas and townships environments in which it's difficult to come out and be a leader in society"

"I believe that if we can work on empowering those schools, we'll definitely be doing a huge job in society"

"Poverty is a manmade crisis"

"The economy in South Africa is still divided, and wealth and poverty have opposite faces"

"The fight against racism is a fight for the betterment of all of humanity, because it determines how we will live amongst each other, and how resources will be shared"

"Young people make up a majority of the global population, but they are still not included in building a world that they are going to inherit"

"I still lived in a world where every last bit of your life was determined by your race: what kind of opportunities you're going to be exposed to, the kind of school you'll go to, the environment you’ll live in. My entire world still was determined on the basis of race."

"One of the things that made me unable to escape activism was that growing up, I experienced a huge amount of anti-Blackness, which I became very aware of just being in a family with both my parents of colour"

"I realised that you have one of two choices: either you try to speak up and see what the effects of speaking up will be, or you die in silence over the silent war you constantly find yourself in"

"I chose to speak up because I felt it was an injustice of its own for me to see the reality of the institution and still choose to be silent."

"I chose to be an activist because I don't want a generation of young South Africans to still be having the same kind of conversations about systemic and institutional racism 30 years from now"

"I was 13, 14 years old, a child basically, [and] I was receiving death threats from old white adults"

"we spoke up about something we were always taught to be silent about"

"I work in these spaces where you're constantly speaking up and you’re always pouring into other people's cups and your cup is hardly poured into"

"Black children see the diversity of the world around them and understand that just because someone doesn't look like them, that doesn't make them inferior"

"The most urgent thing that needs to happen to ensure that education is used as a tool to change the world is firstly, it needs to be accessible"

"We need to ensure that previously poorly funded schools aren't continuing to be disadvantaged now"

"So, in my journey of finding my voice to speak up against racism I began to decolonise my mind, unlocking the shackles, and unlearning the belief of looking at Eurocentric beauty as the standard for beauty"

"I then began to see my hair as not just hair but a central core element of identity"

"asking me to change my hair is like asking me to erase my blackness and you cannot separate the two"

"I hope that when children pick up my book it empowers them to feel proud of their existence and their identity and it ultimately empowers their existence and enables them to proudly be themselves"