Give yourself time to struggle.

Luzuko "Styles" Jevuka, originally from the Eastern Cape. He was born in Queenstown however grew up in Pretoria, at a place called Thaba Tshwane –Voortrekker. Styles started his primary school at Paratus primary then moved to Rosina Sedibane Modiba Sports School to later complete his tertiary education with the North West University. Jevuka started playing football in the streets of Voortrekker at a very young age, that's what he'd do every day with his friends, “we weren't big on other street activities, and we went to school together, so we'd play together at school as well, so you can imagine how much football we played. We then found a club to play with in Laudium which we were introduced to by one of our friends Jacky Matsane at a club called Avion Spurs, the league only played on Sundays, so it was a battle between church and football –however football always won somehow, make no mistake I'm a firm believer of God. I was heavily involved in football especially at school, so most of the time we had two official games per week, but everything changed for me when I was 13 when I made it into the Gauteng provincial squad and one of my coaches said to me: "if you're in that squad you're one of the best keepers in the province and Gauteng is a powerhouse in the country, so you might be one of the best goalkeepers in the country at your age, think about it boy" - and straight after the tournament myself and two of my friends(Luyanda Jikazi & Orbadia Maluleke) were on the newspaper, after that we were scouted by Rosina Sedibane Modiba Sports School of Focused learning.” “Mr. Paterson came to our homes and spoke to our parents, from that moment on life had never the same, we joined Rosina the following year which was 2011-2015 I'll forever be grateful for that phase of my life regardless of how it goes down, I have no regrets and if I had a choice I'd do it again, I'd met brothers, friends, fathers, mothers and relationships that are still going till this day, one of the people who taught me most of the things on and off the field is my first goalkeeper coach Cyprian Tada Musibe, a father figure in my life and a few other coaches(Mr. Baktawar, Mr. Paterson, Coach Laza, Mr. Rowdzi) that I played under at the school, after my time at Rosina had run out it was time for my next move.” A young boy straight out of matric, not clued up about where to go next. Luzuko was asked about his journey to finding a higher institution of learning that prioritized his academics as much as it does to shaping him to become a greater and better player, his response to the question was :“I went and trialed at two higher institutions of learning in Gauteng however the bursary that I was offered wasn’t a 100% bursary and at that time I had promised my parents that they won't be paying for my tertiary education so wasn't going to take anything that came in percentages and wouldn’t advise any player to settle especially when it comes to their education. One random evening, coach “Laza” gave me a call and asked what am I doing now that I am done with my Matric and I was honest enough with him to say that I don’t have a plan, he hung up to arrange a trial for me with the North West University Soccer Institute - the next morning I left for Mafikeng a place 5 hours from home which was foreign to me but found it warm enough to be a home, I landed and found two gentlemen who were my prospective team mates waiting for me. The trail began, I was tried and tested from my skills to how hard I work just to keep my head above the water and fortunately I made the cut to represent NWU. I then registered for a Bcom in Marketing – extended program which was four years” he said. Styles thought just by being at NWU would automatically qualify him to play following a great trial that he had, but he was in for the shock of his life – for the first 2 year of the 4 that he has been with NWU he hasn’t played an official match. When asked what that period taught him, he replied to say: “I thought playing for NWU would be a walk in the park, but it was honestly the two years that taught and forced me to have a relationship with patience like I do now. I must admit it wasn’t easy, imagine training every day for 2 years without playing a game or most of the time not even making the team, at some point I wanted to leave but I thought to myself that, I can't give up at that point I had already sacrificed a lot to just give up, it was towards the end of the 2017 when they told us that we had a new coach(coach Monde Hlatshwayo) coming in, at that point I knew this was an opportunity for me to prove myself because I felt we were all starting on a clean slate, the coach watched a few of our sessions and started training us towards the end of the year, it got more difficult because he came with a number of players, so at that point we were all being assessed to see who’s coming back the following year and who won’t be, after a couple of sessions we had a game before we went on the December break that was my first game in two years, from there I knew I had a bit of a shove in the back to move forward and further.” In 2018 Jevuka was given a swing again at the beginning of the year starting the games before the players could be registered, he shares his experience about playing with the purple army now that he has tasted a bit of game time: “it was thrilling for me, because it was the first time I was playing on a weekly basis, I was happy to get even a minutes under my belt and it was the beginning of a new era for me, the chance that I had long waited and worked for , playing most of the games for the 2nd round of the season, I feel like the technical team(Coach Monde, Coach Nceba,Coach MaEno) pushed me, in fact they pushed the whole team to do well, physically and mentally I was in a good Space and credit to those credo coaches I mentioned above before that stage I've never experienced that much professionalism, always strive to improve, as a footballer that has pushed me to a whole different level, later that year I played my first USSA tournament, which I did fairly well for myself having played 7 games, conceding 6 goals, and 4 clean sheets, we ended up as runners up on the tournament, after a horrifying loss(4-2) to UKZN in the final, but overall we had done well for ourselves as a team, considering we were a new born baby. After the tournament we had 3 weeks to prepare for the biggest football tournament in varsity level - the well anticipated Varsity Football tournament. During the preparations the odds looked to be with me to start the tournament, again the pressure was kicking in as days drew closer to the first game, knowing the atmosphere and the pressure upon the team and the expectations from the supporters. Fast forward to the first game, I think that was one of my best games up to date having made a lot of great saves to keep the team in it, as we moved on game by game I grew in confidence, and kept improving, by the end of the tournament we had finished fifth bowing out on goalkeeper difference, after that I was never the same footballer like when the tournament began, I got more character, confidence and faith, I'm grateful to Coach Monde and Bra Nceba, most importantly coach MaEnoI for affording me an opportunity to prove myself and gage myself in the football industry so much so that during our sports awards I got myself a ‘Players player award for the 2018, which was my best footballing year.” Although he had a great 2018, 2019 was a different year that had a lot of lessons in store for him. Styles didn’t play for 5 months where one of his closest friends held the fort for NWU Kagiso Ramadivhane (Jomo Cosmos), he however used that time to continue working on himself as a player and sharpened his skills as he awaits for his turn to grace the field again. Varsity football tournament 2019, Luzuko made the top 18 but didn’t play until the third game, in his words “I started my first game after 5 months against Tuks, I was utterly disappointed with my performance, I felt I had lost my touch, I was heavy on my feet, the result was fair we drew 1-1 but on a personal level I was disappointed with my performance, but I dug deep and pulled out my character and resilience, the following game we played against UJ, I had stellar of a game and we won 1-0 having made a few crucial saves, I then had redeemed my confidence and it was only up, I had a number of good games there after” Styles said. On the 26 of September 2019 was the most important game of his career, NWU was playing the Varsity Football final for the first time and they were playing against the red machines Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), this was the chance he needed to add his name to the list of history makers in NWU together with his team. Indeed the day was one for the history books, with the goal scored by Lindani “Djemba” Nkabinde, effort pulled by the team and the saves for Styles’ corner NWU won the 2019 Varsity Football Tournament, and it was just in that moment Styles knew that his life was about to change, took to his knees to thank the one above him, soaked and basked in the celebration that filled the Mafikeng Stadium. Thereafter NWU continued making history as the moved on and played in the last 32 of the Nedbank Cup, and met with TUT at the USSA but this time history didn’t repeat itself as the Red Army was in their top form and they retained their USSA championship. It was right after Luzuko played in the USSA tournament that he was signed to Mbombela United through the help of his agent Mr. Sfiso Zwane of Dream big Sports. He took an assessment that was a week long, that on the third day he had finalized his contract and had taken a step into his new journey beyond Varsity football – “everything seems so surreal, this is something I have been working for all my life, a professional contract, it was a great start for me, right after completing my studies. I got there and played the first game right after I got registered which really came as a shock, arriving at a club with 6 goalkeepers see how tricky life can be - at one club you wait two years and at the other you starting playing upon your arrival. In all honesty it has been a very difficult for me to adjust, the game is more demanding physically, mentally - there's a lot to put in with very little help, the requirements are more once you start getting banking notifications, the stakes are high, you are playing against players who are technically and tactically advanced, experienced players, high profiled players, big salary earning players, players with huge egos, arrogant players, overconfident players, there's a lot more to it and your see as a nobody, a small boy from university, an absolute no name, I think the situation the team was in made things a bit more difficult for me, fighting relegation is really draining, physically, emotionally and mentally. I've been working on myself, I can confidently say it's only a matter of time till I do well, I know what it takes, I've been at rock bottom – I know the importance of giving myself time to struggle and I will be the best version of myself” he added. Luzuko was asked on which one of the games that he’s played and changed his football perspective, he said: “there are quite a few games that I learnt a lot of valuable lessons from, and it's more of the bad games I've had that I took lessons from. You know we learn a lot more from our mistakes than our right doings, I've learnt that confidence leads to a calmer mind but there's a very fine line between being confident and complacent, a lot can go wrong in that process, you have to always be on your toes, and strive for improvement not perfection, because nobody is perfect, focus on yourself, own pace own lane.” His response to what football means to him was “football is my life, that's why I still stand tall through all the trials and tribulations of the game. During my development days I've been on trial at the several academies, the likes of: Bidvest Wits, Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs and Tuks and guess what I failed all those trials, I mean all of them, but for me it wasn't failure. I had nothing to lose but everything to learn, I learned a lot more than I lost, and the common reason for rejection was my weight, it ended up being my biggest insecurity throughout my development days, and the most common answer I got was: ‘You're good, but you're overweight for your age’ imagine going through so much just because of a ‘game’ as some would say but it isn't just game to me, it's my life. It's the only life I know, I'm not a superstar - I'm not even close to being one, but I am where I am through God's grace, resilience, hard work and faith. I'm not anywhere better than others, but for some who start with nothing, against all odds I'm proud of myself, I'm grateful but I'm not satisfied and regardless of how it goes down I'll always be proud.” Luzuko likes to thank his parents for the unconditional love and support they have given him through all the good and bad times. Luzuko’s note to self: “Life is about moments, everything you're going through now is preparing you for the future, take the lessons and experience you'll need them. You'll grow when the time is right, always look for growth and improvement in everything you go through, you'll glow when the time is right - you'll shine when the time is right, having gathered all the knowledge, experience and lessons you need to do well.”