South African Korfball player Dinilesizwe “Sik” Madikwa squints as the bright sun reflects off the white wall of the Joza Indoor Centre. This interview has interrupted his training and he is a little anxious to get started again.
South African Korfball player Dinilesizwe “Sik” Madikwa squints as the bright sun reflects off the white wall of the Joza Indoor Centre. This interview has interrupted his training and he is a little anxious to get started again.
On Monday, Madikwa travelled to Zimbabwe, where the national team competed in an international korfball tournament for the first time. Growing up in Joza, Madikwa is typically a basketball player, but began training with the national korfball side in February this year.
Korfball originates in the Netherlands and is a combination of netball and basketball. Each team is made up of four offenders and four defenders, who are prohibited from crossing a hal way line but may pass the ball to each other.
“Our team is made up of four males and four females,” says Madikwa. Modest, he chuckles nervously as I congratulate him on his achievement. Madikwa attributes his success in making the team to his basketball skills.
“It was when they saw my shooting that I got in,” he says. “I want people to know that I made it out of this place,” says Madikwa, pointing behind him to the indoor centre. For him this is a dream come true, and he intends to live every second of it.
