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Danisha Mendes is Team SA’s newest chef de mission

Mendes thriving in her role as 'mother hen'

Mendes thriving in her role as ‘Mother Hen’

By GARY LEMKE

Sitting in her makeshift office on another hot, humid day, with the air conditioner cooling down things, Danisha Mendes looks right at home. Not that she calls the Trinidad capital of Port Of Spain home, but as she goes about her business she may as well be back at Olympic House in Johannesburg. That’s how comfortable she looks.

Mendes is Team SA’s newest chef de mission. For those who are unaware of the term, it’s basically the delegation leader of the squad delivered to a multi-code event by SASCOC, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee.

Her day job is actually that in the finance department at SASCOC where she is the Olympic Finance and Solidarity Officer. “I deal with Olympic solidarity, I act on behalf of SASCOC when it comes to Olympic applications and funding. Not just for SASCOC, but the whole entourage. This extends to anything to do with coaches, athletes, doctors and so on. I run the the applications and financial aspect of Olympic solidarity, and with the finances department, I assist in overseeing the financial side of things at SASCOC.”

The fact that Mendes is chef de mission at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad & Tobago is a huge endorsement in her abilities bestowed upon her by SASCOC president Barry Hendricks and his Board, and CEO Nozipho Jafta.

It’s not her first rodeo and for this writer she is a familiar, friendly face, a much respected and integral cog in the SASCOC/Team SA wheel. But it’s certainly her most important role when it comes to Team SA. She calls it “coming full circle”, but I remark that it’s more of an upwards trajectory in a straight line. She laughs. And it’s a laugh of someone who is comfortable in her role.

“My first event as part of Team SA was at the Zone 6 Games in 2010 in Swaziland. Since then I’ve been at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa, the Youth Olympics, Zone 6 Games in Angola, the Tokyo Olympics, Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games and the African Beach Games. All those roles were in the guise of logistics and athletes services, and it’s having worked in those roles that has prepared me to be chef de mission here.”

Those who haven’t experienced life behind the scenes with Team SA had better take my word on this statement. It’s exhausting behind the scenes and the general management team doesn’t get much down time. Contrary to some opinion, the management is thin in terms of numbers and it’s no exaggeration when I tell you that management rolls up their tracksuit sleeves and helps carry luggage to athletes rooms, clean up where required and are generally on call 24/7.

“That’s exactly it!” Mendes exclaims. “This trip to the Caribbean is literally two weeks of 24-hours-a-day work. But this is just the culmination of a project that started late last year. The ball really started rolling on it in March this year. When you’re working on one aspect of team delivery it definitely is easier. You can troubleshoot with whoever is leader (chef de mission) of the team, but this time I’m the one in the role.

“I’m making the decisions on anything and everything, and it’s ‘Danisha this, Danisha that’. It;’s made me realise that it’s a lot of responsibility – but it’s do-able.”

Mendes then makes another valid observation. “At SASCOC we have a wealth of experience. People think we have a huge staff complement but we don’t. We have 24 people working at Olympic House. So, we are used to being flexible and that prepares us for events like this one.”

And to use another old cliche, there are no “i’s” in the word team. “To deliver a team like this, which is around 70 people located on two different islands, is a challenge. However, it’s a great opportunity for myself, and it’s so rewarding getting to know athletes, managers and coaches. We really are one unit. Everyone is very helpful and communicative.”

I put it to her that being the chef de mission of a Youth Games, where athletes are aged between 14 and 18, can be more complicated than being the leader of Team SA at a Games where there are only adult athletes. And especially because parents of those athletes want to micro-manage their sons and daughters who are far from home and in a unique environment.

“We have a rule that we don’t deal directly with parents. However, we do give them confirmation that their child is safe and it’s important to us that they feel re-assured that their teenagers are in good, responsible hands. As a mother of two – an 11-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter – I can understand how eager parents are to hear news from their child. And to address the elephant in the room, the young athletes are being well cared for. At SASCOC we embraced a Safeguarding policy in the lead-up to the Tokyo Games and everyone involved with Team SA had to complete, and pass a course, and the athletes know that they have recourse to raise any issues they might encounter. We take the Safeguarding of athletes and officials very seriously, which is also of re-assurance to parents.”

With August being Women’s Month in South Africa, Mendes is double proud of her role. And she generously says she couldn’t be doing the grand job that she’s doing in the Caribbean without the assistance of fellow SASCOC member Zandi Monyadi, who is leading the team on the island of Tobago, about a three-hour ferry ride from Trinidad. “Zandi has been amazing, such a help to me. She has also been thrown in the deep end and is in Tobago with Board member Kim Pople, but all the reports from the athletes and coaches in Tobago has been overwhelmingly positive. It really has helped make my job here in Trinidad that much easier.”

Not that she can sleep any easier, because sleep is hard to come by. “That’s true! It’s a 24/7 job, you know that!” And she laughs again. What’s that expression? If it’s a passion it’s not a job?

Mendes follows a list of chef de missions who are taking Team SA to greater heights. At the Tokyo Olympics, it was Patience Shikwambana, at the Commonwealth Games it was Lwandile Simelane and now at the Commonwealth Youth Games it’s Danisha Mendes.

“I’m really proud to be a 37-year-old woman who is in this position. In recent years SASCOC has given women and younger people more opportunities and it has energised the organisation. I’ve been at SASCOC for a while and I can feel the vibe.”

I point out to her that I’m not young anymore, which might not bode well for my own future within Team SA. “You’ve got the energy of a young person,” she says. And laughs again. It’s that reassuring laugh again.

She really does revel in having a motherly kind of touch. Which fits in with her own life and why she can identify with the athletes at these Youth Games. “I suppose you could call me a mother hen. With athletes older than these here they understand how things work because they’ve been doing it for a long time. For some, this is the biggest tournament they’ve been at. There’s an adjustment they have to make, logistics are a way of life at these Games. When we come to a Games, it’s not like going from one house to another. There are challenges and adjustments. But youngsters are adaptable and we had a very long trip to get here.

“We spent 23 hours in Amsterdam, staying in a tiny hotel, with tiny rooms. But it was heart warming to see everyone settle in, standing in corridors, singing, dancing, getting to know one another. Everyone was fine,and there was a togetherness of athletes. And I think you can see by the way that they have competed here shows how tight-knit this group is.”

As I prepare to say thank you for the interview, knowing that Mendes has to get on with her day and attend to myriad tasks that await, she says there’s one more thing. “I really want to say thank you to my bosses at SASCOC for this opportunity. From the president and his Board, to the CEO, to the general manager and to all my colleagues. It means a lot to me, especially in Women’s Month.”

While she is generous in her thank yous, she is also deflecting from her own performance. To be part of the Team SA management you don’t just knock on the door at Olympic House and ask for the opportunity. You get there through hard work and ability – and that is something that Mendes has never been short of.

Photo: Roger Sedres

Source: Team SA

 |  SA Sportspress  |  SA Sports

Mendes thriving in her role as 'mother hen'

Mendes thriving in her role as ‘Mother Hen’

By GARY LEMKE

Sitting in her makeshift office on another hot, humid day, with the air conditioner cooling down things, Danisha Mendes looks right at home. Not that she calls the Trinidad capital of Port Of Spain home, but as she goes about her business she may as well be back at Olympic House in Johannesburg. That’s how comfortable she looks.

Mendes is Team SA’s newest chef de mission. For those who are unaware of the term, it’s basically the delegation leader of the squad delivered to a multi-code event by SASCOC, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee.

Her day job is actually that in the finance department at SASCOC where she is the Olympic Finance and Solidarity Officer. “I deal with Olympic solidarity, I act on behalf of SASCOC when it comes to Olympic applications and funding. Not just for SASCOC, but the whole entourage. This extends to anything to do with coaches, athletes, doctors and so on. I run the the applications and financial aspect of Olympic solidarity, and with the finances department, I assist in overseeing the financial side of things at SASCOC.”

The fact that Mendes is chef de mission at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad & Tobago is a huge endorsement in her abilities bestowed upon her by SASCOC president Barry Hendricks and his Board, and CEO Nozipho Jafta.

It’s not her first rodeo and for this writer she is a familiar, friendly face, a much respected and integral cog in the SASCOC/Team SA wheel. But it’s certainly her most important role when it comes to Team SA. She calls it “coming full circle”, but I remark that it’s more of an upwards trajectory in a straight line. She laughs. And it’s a laugh of someone who is comfortable in her role.

“My first event as part of Team SA was at the Zone 6 Games in 2010 in Swaziland. Since then I’ve been at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa, the Youth Olympics, Zone 6 Games in Angola, the Tokyo Olympics, Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games and the African Beach Games. All those roles were in the guise of logistics and athletes services, and it’s having worked in those roles that has prepared me to be chef de mission here.”

Those who haven’t experienced life behind the scenes with Team SA had better take my word on this statement. It’s exhausting behind the scenes and the general management team doesn’t get much down time. Contrary to some opinion, the management is thin in terms of numbers and it’s no exaggeration when I tell you that management rolls up their tracksuit sleeves and helps carry luggage to athletes rooms, clean up where required and are generally on call 24/7.

“That’s exactly it!” Mendes exclaims. “This trip to the Caribbean is literally two weeks of 24-hours-a-day work. But this is just the culmination of a project that started late last year. The ball really started rolling on it in March this year. When you’re working on one aspect of team delivery it definitely is easier. You can troubleshoot with whoever is leader (chef de mission) of the team, but this time I’m the one in the role.

“I’m making the decisions on anything and everything, and it’s ‘Danisha this, Danisha that’. It;’s made me realise that it’s a lot of responsibility – but it’s do-able.”

Mendes then makes another valid observation. “At SASCOC we have a wealth of experience. People think we have a huge staff complement but we don’t. We have 24 people working at Olympic House. So, we are used to being flexible and that prepares us for events like this one.”

And to use another old cliche, there are no “i’s” in the word team. “To deliver a team like this, which is around 70 people located on two different islands, is a challenge. However, it’s a great opportunity for myself, and it’s so rewarding getting to know athletes, managers and coaches. We really are one unit. Everyone is very helpful and communicative.”

I put it to her that being the chef de mission of a Youth Games, where athletes are aged between 14 and 18, can be more complicated than being the leader of Team SA at a Games where there are only adult athletes. And especially because parents of those athletes want to micro-manage their sons and daughters who are far from home and in a unique environment.

“We have a rule that we don’t deal directly with parents. However, we do give them confirmation that their child is safe and it’s important to us that they feel re-assured that their teenagers are in good, responsible hands. As a mother of two – an 11-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter – I can understand how eager parents are to hear news from their child. And to address the elephant in the room, the young athletes are being well cared for. At SASCOC we embraced a Safeguarding policy in the lead-up to the Tokyo Games and everyone involved with Team SA had to complete, and pass a course, and the athletes know that they have recourse to raise any issues they might encounter. We take the Safeguarding of athletes and officials very seriously, which is also of re-assurance to parents.”

With August being Women’s Month in South Africa, Mendes is double proud of her role. And she generously says she couldn’t be doing the grand job that she’s doing in the Caribbean without the assistance of fellow SASCOC member Zandi Monyadi, who is leading the team on the island of Tobago, about a three-hour ferry ride from Trinidad. “Zandi has been amazing, such a help to me. She has also been thrown in the deep end and is in Tobago with Board member Kim Pople, but all the reports from the athletes and coaches in Tobago has been overwhelmingly positive. It really has helped make my job here in Trinidad that much easier.”

Not that she can sleep any easier, because sleep is hard to come by. “That’s true! It’s a 24/7 job, you know that!” And she laughs again. What’s that expression? If it’s a passion it’s not a job?

Mendes follows a list of chef de missions who are taking Team SA to greater heights. At the Tokyo Olympics, it was Patience Shikwambana, at the Commonwealth Games it was Lwandile Simelane and now at the Commonwealth Youth Games it’s Danisha Mendes.

“I’m really proud to be a 37-year-old woman who is in this position. In recent years SASCOC has given women and younger people more opportunities and it has energised the organisation. I’ve been at SASCOC for a while and I can feel the vibe.”

I point out to her that I’m not young anymore, which might not bode well for my own future within Team SA. “You’ve got the energy of a young person,” she says. And laughs again. It’s that reassuring laugh again.

She really does revel in having a motherly kind of touch. Which fits in with her own life and why she can identify with the athletes at these Youth Games. “I suppose you could call me a mother hen. With athletes older than these here they understand how things work because they’ve been doing it for a long time. For some, this is the biggest tournament they’ve been at. There’s an adjustment they have to make, logistics are a way of life at these Games. When we come to a Games, it’s not like going from one house to another. There are challenges and adjustments. But youngsters are adaptable and we had a very long trip to get here.

“We spent 23 hours in Amsterdam, staying in a tiny hotel, with tiny rooms. But it was heart warming to see everyone settle in, standing in corridors, singing, dancing, getting to know one another. Everyone was fine,and there was a togetherness of athletes. And I think you can see by the way that they have competed here shows how tight-knit this group is.”

As I prepare to say thank you for the interview, knowing that Mendes has to get on with her day and attend to myriad tasks that await, she says there’s one more thing. “I really want to say thank you to my bosses at SASCOC for this opportunity. From the president and his Board, to the CEO, to the general manager and to all my colleagues. It means a lot to me, especially in Women’s Month.”

While she is generous in her thank yous, she is also deflecting from her own performance. To be part of the Team SA management you don’t just knock on the door at Olympic House and ask for the opportunity. You get there through hard work and ability – and that is something that Mendes has never been short of.

Photo: Roger Sedres

Source: Team SA

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