Hockey Captains. In our series on sport captains, Schools That Rock talks to Khumo Pitso. Khumo is the captain of Sentraal High School, Bloemfontein, boys 1st hockey team. Today he scores our twenty second goal in this hockey captains series for high schools in South Africa.
“I started playing hockey when I was six years old. The love for the sport really started when I started playing with older age groups. I just love the concept of the sport. Not only is it a team sport, it is also a sport that teaches you the principal of making wise decisions.
My favourite professional hockey player would have to be Dhanjar Pillay Yadav. My reason being is because he is the only player to have played in four Olympics, four World Cups, four Championship Trophies and four Asian games. India won the Asian games under his captaincy. His story and career motivates me every day to believe that anything is possible only if you put your mind to it.
My current position is center midfielder. I can play any other position besides defense.
I was first appointed as captain in my grade 7 year when I played for my primary school.
As a team we train three times per week. I personally train every day except on Fridays and Sundays.
Most stressful game
As hockey captain my most stressful game was for sure our game against Grey College’s first team. We had the expectation that it was not going to be an easy game, but as a team we did better than expected.
My most exciting game was my debut game in the first team. It went so well that I managed to score the last leading goal.
My worst hockey performance was when I played in the under 16 team. My fitness was not on point and I missed a lot of opportunities that could have won us the games. The lesson I have learned through that game was that no matter who you are on the field, if you don’t have your basics on point, then mistakes are bound to happen more than you expect.
Yes, indeed I do watch hockey on TV . Its motivating to see how professional teams carry the ball and have so much chemistry with one another. They have the same goal to fight for the team to win.
Yes, I once tried to imitate Dhanjar’s penalty shootout where he flicked the ball over the goalkeepers head from top D. Let’s just say that I still need a bit of practice.
My goals are that I would really love to push myself at the Southern FreeState tour to prove to myself that God has blessed me with true talent. And I would love to make the U/21 mens FreeState team next year as I will be turning 18 years old.
Top priorities
Ranking my current top five priorities in life:
- Keep my health and body in good shape for as long as I can.
- To study at a good university and get my degree
- Get a hockey sponsor than can push me closer to my goal.
- To excel in my other activities as well as hockey.
- To always keep positive and help those in need.
How I manage my hockey responsibilities and other recreational and non-recreational (academic) activities? I try my best to complete my school work in school hours, just to have more time to train. The hostel also gives us a three hour study session to complete all of our work.
Continuing hockey after school? No, I am still deciding whether I want to continue with High Jump or Hockey. If I do continue playing hockey I would love to play for the national team and represent my country. I would also like to play for a Dutch club named, HC Oranje Rood.
Other interests
Yes, I do have other interests outside of hockey. I love to watch documentaries on athletes that have worked hard for the position that they are in today. What I also love, is reading self-help and motivational books in my free time.
I believe that my speed and agility play a huge part in my hockey career. That is the strengths I believe I have that make me a great hockey player.
In motivating my team, I try my best to never undermine my teammates. I always try to use examples of professional athletes and teams of my teammates favourites to motivate each teammate individually and give them a goal of their own before we play a game.
As hockey captain I’ve learnt that team work leads to better results and that playing a team sport individually is as good as drinking coffee without water. As captain I have also learned that your actions on the field will result to the teams outcome. So on the astro I always push myself and my fellow teammates to still keep going no matter how tired they are or how in pain they are, but simply to not give up on themselves and the team.
Yes, I have implemented game plans that helped our team succeed. In previous years in primary school I helped our coach with a new short corner variation that has been a huge success to the team.
Best advice
The best advice I have received from my coaches was to never look at a mistake as a failure but to look at it as motivation for the next opportunity. if you see a teammate struggling with learning a new move, position or play, . I would go through the skill with him and try to help him find a similar skill that will be more comfortable for him.
My coach and fellow teammates describe me as determined.
My advice to new hockey players is to always give 110% at training sessions and to always be grateful that you have the opportunity to play the sport you love.
The person I look up to is my present hockey coach, Coach Ruben Coetzee, because he has not only spent so much time and effort on the team, he also looks after us individually and makes sure every time we are mentally at the right place.
I believe the greatest challenge faced by today’s sport participants is to be good enough to stick out and and be seen, because there are so many sports participants that some get demotivated to keep playing because they feel like they are not seen as good players.
Greatest highlight
My single greatest highlight the past five years, I would say being a 2 time FreeState High Jump Championship, and being appointed as Hoërskool Sentraal’s First Team Hockey Captain.
I would love to drink coffee with Dhanraj Pillay Yadav, because I would love to know how he found his passion for hockey and what had kept him determined and committed to the sport.
What excites me the most in life is getting a phone call from my mother after a bad day.
One word I would use to describe myself is: Amiable.
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