For many touch rugby is a means of warming up during a practice session or before a match, for others it is a casual sport you play at the park with your friends, but for Basetsana Magashule its more than that, its her life.
" It's made me who I am, it's given me my friends, my special person. So for me touch rugby honestly means everything. I am very passionate about it and it's my motivation and it's my drive and it's the root of everything else that I would like to do in the world. It all started with touch rugby," said Magashule.
The 25 year old has been playing touch rugby for ten years now. She was introduced to sport in grade 9 at Hillside High School, and she has never looked back. Her development took off when she made her move to Gauteng Touch Rugby Association in 2017. At Gauteng Touch Rugby Association her love and knowledge for the game grew, and opportunities would present themselves.
"So Gauteng Touch has been amazing to me. Like, if it was not for Gauteng Touch Rugby Association, I would not be where I am. Moving to Gauteng in 2017 was the best decision I ever made. Gauteng has done a lot for me, I am the head coach of the U/15 and head of development. Gauteng Touch, they are passionate about developing the sports not only provincially but nationally, and that is amazing. Honestly speaking, Gauteng has done a lot for me, when I do play for them, I represent them well and always keep them in my heart."
Magashule has grown into an elite athlete, with a top mentality, constantly aiming at improving her game to remain at the top level.
"Touch rugby is just one of those sports that make you want to do better every single time. When you get on the field you are always presented with different situations and you can never say 'that was good'; there is always areas where you can improve, so for me that's a challenge. I always challenge myself every single time, when I'm not happy with something, I am willing to do better. I always look at sports as the end product. So every time I struggle in a game, I always go back, I'm always self criticising and reflecting; saying 'what is my body needing, I need to eat right, I need to sleep right, I need to get faster in that situation, need to be more agile, need to train better, need to work on my left and right passes.
Setting goals is something Basetsana Magashule believes and doing so has helped her throughout her career.
"I love setting goals, I always set goals in terms of what I want to achieve out of the season in the league, in my matches; I always set small goals for myself and I think that helps me get my driven going and to maintain my consistency. And just being humble, most importantly, if you are not humble you are never going to think you need help or you need to work on certain things. So I think being humble is definitely the root of me being able to maintain consistency in my game," explained Magashule.
Magashule was part of the SA Open Ladies team that went to Malaysia at the Fit Touch Rugby World. She cites that experience as one of the best in her life.
"The World Cup was an amazing experience, like there were times when there were games called off because of the heat, it was 56° Celsius at times. When you are at the World Cup level, and you have people running at you, and it is hot your feet are burning, you just have to keep going. I learned a lot about myself in Malaysia, I discovered that my body can actually push harder than what my mind says. Obviously being at a World Cup, you can never have good games every single time. You hit lows, there will be times where you just do not believe in yourself; you ask yourself 'how did you even get here, are you even worthy of being here'. So you need confidence, self confidence because there is a lot going on. You need to believe in yourself, there is no time to get lost in your feelings because its just go go go!"
Her experience at the World Cup, is something she shares with her girls she coaches. She tells her story to inspire her team and give them confidence. Coaching is something Magshule enjoys doing, her passion and dedication translates to her team.
"I am the coach of the U/15 girls, I love coaching girls, because they are so challenging, they need more time to learn certain skills and it's so much fun seeing them learn all these skills. When I coach my kids, I tell them that them that they can actually play at SA level, that is if they want to be there. I always tell them that they are the future of touch rugby, I always try to open their eyes. We won gold last the at the Junior Championships, we won it eventually after l many attempts; we have come close to winning gold before losing at the finals in the past three years. I have 16 girls in my team and 11 made of them made it to the Junior National World Cup squad," added Magashule.
Magashule states that in order for touch rugby to develop in the country, the sport needs more funding and human resources. She is doing her part in developing the sports as she host her annual tournament called Super Six Touch Championships. The competition is aimed at providing game time for touch rugby players. Magashule says the response to the tournament has received been overwhelming and has aspirations of taking nationally as it is still Gauteng based now.
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