When it is your time to shine nothing will stop you

Tebogo 'Chuku' Lekaba, born and raised in Rustenburg (North-west province) started primary at Nkukise based in Tlhabane(Rustenburg). He went on to matriculate at the Sports School of Excellence (SOE). Chuku began playing football at the age of 9. He was playing for a local team called All Nations founded by Mogomotsi Modimoeng, who introduced him to football. He describes his football journey as one that gave him a serious wake up call, “it was never easy since the day i joined the SOE(school of excellence) back in 2012, that is where I realized that football is more than just a game, but a business. I met with people from all the corners of South Africa and are all fighting for one thing which is making it in football" he said. He played the Johannesburg development league where Premier Soccer League (PSL) development teams also took part. To add, he also took part in several tournaments like Kay Motsepe Cup, Engen Cup, Nike Premier Cup and Future Champs just to mention a few which all helped him grow and develop as a player that he has become today. Tebogo enrolled for a National Diploma in Officiating and Coaching sciences at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT, the People's University) in 2017 where he joined the University’s high performance team. When asked to share his experience about playing for such a big institution, he replied: “It’s not easy playing for TUT though it looks easy from the grand stands. In order to settle in the team, you need to work very hard each day at training and also adapting at the team’s philosophy. It comes with a lot of self discipline, dedication and commitment; moreover, you need to be mentally strong. Once you are able to follow instruction and execute as you're told, you'll go far.” He went on and said, “playing for the People's University, I've learnt to be patient especially when things are not going my way e.g not getting game time. I was very young when I joined the team so it was not easy for me because a lot of my team mates were much more older than me and with the treatment you could tell. I had no other option but to stand firm and be strong.” Three years later post joining the team, through his hard work, dedication and consistency Chuku was named captain of the team. When asked how that made him feel his response was: “being the captain of any team comes with so much pressure because you need to lead your team through the coach's instruction and one must always lead by example because you have people who look up to you. This means that your performance in the field of play must show that indeed you are the captain. I quickly realized that the title found me strong mentally and I told myself that I’m not going to let my team down, but even more the technical team as they've trusted me enough to lead the team. What’s left for me to do is to remain focused and stay disciplined.” Shifting our heads to the current situation facing the globe, Chuku commented that the training sessions and football games have been heavily affected, of course. He was asked how he best keeps fit during this period, “when the Lockdown began, honestly it was not easy because somehow one becomes lazy to workout since no one is in charge of our daily sessions unlike when we were on campus we knew when we had training sessions and were always mentally and physically prepared for it; however, our technical team has found a way to assist us in the process to help us remain fit. We have online conditioning sessions with Mr Prescott Mahlangu (Biokentist/Fitness Conditiner), so everything is way better.” He added that in as much as home sessions aren't as explosive as on the field football sessions they do assist one in staying in shape. He said one of the best advice he has ever received was from his current head coach Mr. Bushy Moloi which was "to be patient because when the timing is right and it’s my time to shine, nothing will stop me, but only God can.” We would like to wish Chuku nothing but the best in both his academic and football journey. Love & Light to him and may he continue to lead and shine.

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