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What started out as a campaign to keep children in the Tolofiyeni village occupied is becoming one of the best sports success stories in rural areas.
Since the Ace Mates Academy of Sport was launched two years ago in the village near Qonce, it has produced top athletes in soccer and netball while excelling in boxing.
Despite women’s boxing still being viewed as taboo in rural villages, boxers from the academy are changing perceptions with resounding victories against their more fancied peers from the townships.
This was again proven at the provincial amateur boxing tournament hosted by Mpucuko Sports Development at the weekend when four of the six participants won medals.
Not only were academy boxers among the medallists but one of its members was voted as the women’s best boxer of the tournament when Amahle Kundulu won the Ludumo Lamati belt.
Kundulu joined Masibulele Liwani, who walked away with the male version of the award presented by former world champion Ludumo Lamati who recently retired after a medical scare.
Academy director Andile Mofu was overjoyed by the achievement as he had not anticipated that accolades would be flowing into the project within such a short time.
“When we started, our focus was to provide activity for rural children by getting them involved in sport to keep them occupied,” he said.
“We knew some areas were [flush] with talent which needed to be nurtured but to expect us to be where we are at this moment is beyond our wildest dreams.”
Mofu's passion for sports development is unparalleled, having spent virtually all his years nurturing talent in the amateur boxing ranks, rising to become the country’s president of the structure.
It was under his watch that a slew of development programmes were launched while Mofu empowered himself by undergoing coaching courses to become one of the few internationally recognised coaching instructors on the continent.
Despite resigning as president of the SA National Boxing Organisation, Mofu never abandoned his love for the sport’s development as he launched the academy which has since attracted 158 children.
While netball and soccer have also brought home medals, it is boxing that is turning the structure into a dominant force.
Mofu said rugby had just been added as the academy contributed to the government’s Mass Participation Programme (MPP) which encouraged communities to use sport as a tool to fight social ills.
Having cemented itself as the best rural boxing product, the academy is aiming for the stars, with the achievement gained in the Mpucuko boxing tournament serving as a catalyst for future success.
DispatchLIVE
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