Sinazo Halom was born in Port Elizabeth 23 years ago, promptly quit netball – a sport that’s usually associated with women- and today she is a promising Eastern Cape provincial rugby player.
This feminine, shy mother of a three-year-old baby boy even represented her high school on a provincial level.
Sinazo Halom was born in Port Elizabeth 23 years ago, promptly quit netball – a sport that’s usually associated with women- and today she is a promising Eastern Cape provincial rugby player.
This feminine, shy mother of a three-year-old baby boy even represented her high school on a provincial level.
“Just like most girls I played netball at school, and I was quite good at the sport as I represented Mary Waters, but one day I decided that I needed to make a drastic change to a sport that is mainly male.”
Halom only launched into her rugby career last year, but this woman from Extension 6 is now representing the Eastern Cape Province and has already rubbed shoulders with the national female rugby team, The Springbok Girls.
They also beat the Blue Bulls womens team in Pretoria. Halom, together with Daphney Scheepers from Lily White Rugby Club in Grahamstown, are now part of the EP team.
“When we played the Blue Bulls in Pretoria I was really nervous because it was also my first time flying in an aeroplane.
I was also meeting some new people who already knew each other, but we went there and beat the hell out of them.” Halom also plays for the Winter Rose Club here in Grahamstown, and attributes all her successes to her coach and mentor, Pepsi Twaku.
“He’s been the rock not only to me and my rugby career, but also to the other girls in our [Winter Rose] team.
When I joined Winter Rose I had no idea about rugby at all, but through his patience I am what I am today basically because of him. He’s not a ‘nice’ guy,"she laughs. "He’s very hard on us so that we can be even harder on the pitch.”
Halom’s ultimate dream is to represent South Africa on a national level. “It is a dream I am working really hard to achieve, and one day I’m going to wear the national colours and represent South Africa,” she said before adding that nothing was impossible.
"It doesn’t matter if you are a woman or a man, if you want to succeed it’s all in your hands, and attitude,” she says. Not that there haven’t been some setbacks. “Yes, we lost quite dismally against the Springboks Girls.
I don’t even remember the score line, all I remember is just that we didn’t score at all,” she said before giving a hearty laugh. "But I guess the whole point was that we learn from that experience and aspire to be where they are".
Halom recently represented the Eastern Province against the Western Province rugby union in Port Elizabeth, a game they also lost.
“Western Province was also one of the toughest games we played, and again it’s the experience that’s most welcome.They beat us 29 – 5, but we have taken a lot with us and we will do better the next time we meet.”
