Gymnastics South Africa’s Leadership Project

Gymnastics South Africa’s Leadership Project started in April 2022 with the mentorship of 12 leaders across all nine Provinces.

Part of the overall Transformation Strategy, the Project is aimed at the expansion of gymnastics schools and hubs in the provinces. The main functions of the Project are to mentor future leaders, assist with the operation of gymnastics clubs at schools and hubs and to train and develop young leaders and ambassadors.

Developed and facilitated by Gymnastics SA President Donny Jurgens and Development Manager Marti Heri, the training consists of a series of online webinars, e-learning tools, templates, and a mentoring programme provided by trained and experienced leaders.

Amajuba Gymnastics Hub leader, Wellington Xolani Magwaza is one of the leaders participating in the Leadership Project and today we focus on this remarkable leader.

Before joining the Leadership Project, Wellington worked closely with mentor Allan Chadwick and KwaZulu Natal Gymnastics to establish and grow gymnastics in the rural Amajuba district in KwaZulu Natal.

Wellington grew from working at one school with extramural activities for 50 children to impacting 15 schools, including four special schools for children with disabilities. Wellington reached a total 2 067 children (of which 1 379 are girls), through fundamental movement classes, physical education, extramural gymnastics activities and competitive programs.

Wellington has been part of the Leadership Project since January 2022. He expanded the elementary gymnastics programme to other districts such as Endumeni, uMzinyathi and Zululand with capacity building workshops for teachers, rope skipping and fitness programs.

He has taken on several roles in development including coaching schools sport and higher-level competitive programmes in different disciplines, including artistic men and women, aerobics, rope skipping and parkour. He is also a course facilitator for elementary teachers training. Wellingtons is a keen Rope Skipping ambassador and actively promotes fitness, health, and physical education programmes in KwaZulu Natal.

Some of Wellington’s major achievements include:

·        His club delivered one Skipnation winner in 2021. Sihle Motha won the Club Competition

·        Facilitator for the Disciplines Specific Workshop in the Harry Gwala District

·        Selected as Co-Facilitator Coach for the Uganda Project in October 2021

·        Head Coach Team KwaZulu Natal for Aerobic Gymnastics and Rope Skipping for Gym Games 2021

·        Appointed as Transformation Leader for KwaZulu Natal province in January 2022

·        April 2022 FIG 2 Aerobic Gymnastics 

·        Hosted Rope Skipping Facilitator’s workshop 

·        Conducted Skipnation Launch in four districts 

·        Four Jumpers from Amajuba Gymnastics Hub qualified for African Championships in June 2022 

·        Attended the FIG Level 1 Parkour Academy

We asked Wellington a couple of questions:

Why did you get involved in gymnastics?

It is very interesting how I got involved in Gymnastics. Like any other kid living in the Alexandra township back in 1998, I was very interested in what I later found out is called Tumbling. I was drawn to gymnastics by the cool Tumbling skills like flick-flacks and back tucks.

At first, I will admit that I joined for fun but as time went on, I started going to the Gym more regularly as a gymnast and later assisted with coaching. Luckily in 1999 I made Team SA and was a part of the gymnasts that represented South Africa in Sweden for Gymnaestrada, after that the rest is history. The love I had, and still have, for Gymnastics grew every day so in 2001 I did my GL course and became a full-time coach. 

What role do you think gymnastics play in your local community?

Gymnastics positively impacts so many of the children we work with. I live in Osizweni where poverty and crime are big challenges. Most of the kids that participate in gymnastics programmes daily are from disadvantaged communities like my own. Participating in gymnastics gives these kids something else to focus on and brings them so much hope and opportunity. Their social behaviours have changed and even their grades have improved to mention a few things. Gymnastics has not only positively impacted the kids but their parents too. The parents worry less because they know where their children are, and they see the positive changes in their children. Because of this, and the hosting of regular events at the hub, parent-club communication has improved too.

What is the biggest challenge in your role? And how do you overcome it?

I would say one of the biggest challenges is seeing how disappointed and sad the kids become when their parents are unable to pay their registration fees. Gymnastics is the only thing that they enjoy, it brings smiles to their faces. It is so disheartening when they are unable to progress to the next levels of competitions or when they cannot afford entry fees for competitions. Another challenge is getting transportation to go to the competition venues. Normally, when we face these challenges, I normally try to comfort and motivate them to become stronger and more resilient to face the difficulties that we come across in life.

What is your message for other leaders in gymnastics?

As a leader I’ve learned that the best way to help people and to get work done is to work with people, not to give orders, but to involve others in your decision making and always ensure that you are polite. A very important element that I feel should never be neglected is respect. Respect goes both ways, if you as a leader can lead by example and respect those that you work with, they will naturally feel inclined to respect you also. One last thing, following up to ensure that the team understands their roles and what needs to be done makes the work-life so much easier.