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Nedbank running club setting the bar for development in the country
Week in and week out, the green clad Nike vests of the Nedbank running club dominate races around the country with some of Africa’s best athletes proudly donning the famous kit affectionately known as the green dream team. Whilst the club has many stars, it is the development branches of the club that are producing tomorrows stars today so to speak.
The Nedbank running club has development programs situated in Soweto, Central North West, Bloemfontein and Vanderbijlpark under the watchful eyes of some of the best coahes in the country, including former athletics legends Pio Mpolokeng and Matthews Temane who head up the Central North West branches and Siyaya Khoza who heads up the very successful Soweto branch.
“A team can be successful based on the results they get, but I believe that the biggest success is being able to train up the future stars from a young age and develop the countries next generation of athletes,” says Nedbank running club national team manager Nick Bester. “We have seen huge success in our development programs where athletes have gone on to have successful careers in their running and also represent the country on the world stage.”
There is still a chill in the air as the Johannesburg winter comes to an end and coach Siyaya Khoza is at the Rietvallei Ext 3 school grounds where you will find him often during the week, whistle in hand, and guiding tomorrows stars through yet another training session at the Nedbank running club Soweto development branch. With 23 athletes falling under the development banner, Khoza has seen his athletes win national titles at both junior and senior level and this year a number of his stars are focussing on the upcoming South African xc champs where this year some of his athletes represented the country at the World xc championships which took place in Australia.
“Besides seeing my athletes doing well in the sport, I want to see running open doors like it did for me to better education and also run on the world stage and don the national colours,” says Khoza. “The support that Nedbank running club and the club sponsors give to our athletes really makes a huge difference in their lives and is one of the reasons that they excel so quickly.”
A number of Nedbank running club athletes from the 4 development branches will be taking part in the upcoming South African cross-country championships and just like last year, there will be many medals and podium spots that will be the goal for many. “Cross country running and track is the stepping stone to the road and you need to go through these phases to become a superstar in the sport,” said Bester.
“We are proud to say that through the Nedbank running club development programs, we have had national title holders at school level, junior level and senior level as well from the track to the cross country and also the road.”
Even though athletes may be running in different clubs now, the Nedbank running club development wing has also seen current stars start their careers with the Nedbank running club development team and rise through the ranks. Previous Nedbank running club development athletes include Precious Mashele, Matthews Leeto and Tshepo Tshite. This year Tshite narrowly missed making the final of the World championships over the 1500m, and Mashele has gone on to win numerous national titles as well as represent South Africa at the Tokyo Olympic Games in the 5000m.
Current Nedbank running club green dream team athlete Thabang Mosiako is another athlete who has risen through the ranks thanks to the development initiative. The 28-year-old picked up a national title whilst still in the development wing, and now, based in Gqeberha where he is coached by Michael Mbambani, has had his best season to date. He picked up the national half marathon title in June when he clocked a world class 1:00:29 and ran 27:52 over 10km on the road. Mosiako is currently preparing for the World Half Marathon Championships where he will represent his country.
“All of this would not be possible at all without all of our sponsors to the club and also the coaches that give up their personal time to guide these athletes to bigger and better things,” said Bester.
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