For we walk by faith and not by sight.

Tlotlo “Given” Afrika hails from Kuruman in the Northern Cape, the third year Sport Management footballer from Tshwane University of Technology can camouflage between being a striker, winger and attacking midfielder. Tlotlo was introduced to football at the age of 7 by Mr. Peter Manchonyane from Kathu “Sesheng United “, he's played Danone league for U/9, Mille Cup U/12, Transnet provincial tournament U/15, Metropolitan league U/17, LFA league, SAB league and SAB U/21 National Tournament. In 2017, like many other hopeful players chasing the dream to have a logo to represent on their chest, Afrika trailed for TUT FC and was selected to form part of the team. He shares his experience and lessons that comes with playing for the Red Machines: "playing for TUT is like living in my own dream, I’ve learnt that patience pays off big time, I've become so much of a team player and learnt that as team we can achieve more especially if we invest time and effort in practice because if you really practiced, then your effort will show off when it's game time" he said. Along the years, we've seen Tlotlo drip and drop in the students' favorite tournament Varsity Football, however, in the 2019 tournament he really showed up and showed off as in one of the games that TUT played against Central University of Technology (CUT) he scooped the man of the match award, when asked of what that moment meant to him, he replied, "honestly that was a dream come true for me as cliché as it may sound, I was so happy and to hear my name saturating the stadium from the grand stands. That was something I never expected or experienced, that moment meant a lot to me, it was confirmation that patience pays off because I was always giving my best at training but even more waiting for my turn to come just for me to shine but above and beyond everything I have God to thank for that." 2019 Varsity Football Tournament final match came bearing a lesson for Afrika and his team, when asked if given a chance to play that game again what would he and his team do differently, his graceful response was, "before sharing my lesson, I’d like to thank my head coach Mr. Bushy Moloi for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to play the 2019 Varsity Football Final. To be honest I was hurt on that day, that was the first time I saw a team receiving 2 red cards in a space of 8 minutes, I think we should not undermine any team whether you’ve beaten them before or not because that’s where I think we’ve lost it. Fortunately, we were able to readjust our focus during the USSA tournament as we beat NWU even after we lost to them." In response to the question of life a student athlete, Tlotlo said that being a student athlete is so difficult because they experience a lot of problems, but the biggest of them all being having to balance their academics, being a sportsman and ensuring that their mental wellness is prioritized. He believes that for one to survive goes to planning and having a schedule in place but even more sacrifice, hard work and dedication. For some months we've seen Tlotlo off the field in the 2018/2019 season because of an injury, he shared with us his coping mechanisms and what has being off the field taught him, he said, "I was off for months because of the Charlie Horse Syndrome on my left thigh. Being off the field was very difficult and painful because I was on top of my game - I was the top goal scorer before the injury so I wanted to play and extend my goals. The only thing that helped me to cope was spending time on my books and attending my rehab sessions. The injury and time off the taught me that football is a short career, I have to balance it with my academics so that when I retire from football I have something to rely on." As much as there are some frustration that supporters experience during a complete loss or during the game, footballers also get strained not just physically but mentally as well that sometimes they see the only resort being to quit. Afrika was asked if he ever wanted to quit football and what kept him going, his response was: "I once wanted to quit because of bench warming, that point came with a lot of confusion and frustration as I was working very hard at training but not given the opportunity to play games. There were days I can see that I am going to play but only to find out that I lied to myself, but you know sometimes things don’t go your way so you have to accept and try again and I know for sure that I'm not the only player who has experienced this." "I just want to encourage them to never stop working hard or blaming themselves and those around them just because things seem grey at the moment. Everything has its way of falling into place. As for me, it’s faith that keeps me going, I have faith that one day it will make sense not just to me but to everyone else and I will achieve my dreams to play professional football." Afrika's note to self reads: “never give up until you reach all the goals you've set for yourself. "