Thabo Mnyamane

SuperSport United’s levelheaded student

New SuperSport United sensation Thabo Mnyamane has burst onto the scene this season with a new spring in his step, not just because he has signed for one of the Absa Premiership’s elite, but also with relief at having completed his studies. The 24-year-old is the holder of a diploma in Sports Science from North West University, where he was on a football scholarship, and having put the books behind him for now, is ready to deliver for Matsatsantsa. Always the studious sort, he says the ambition to please his parents drove him to achieve in both football and at university. “My dad pushed me to play football, but my mom kept saying, ‘don’t forget about your studies, son’. I had to balance the two to make both of them happy, which meant attaining high marks at school and also excel- ling in football,” Mnyamane says. “At varsity it was a challenge because if I didn’t get a certain pass percentage then I couldn’t play. But if I didn’t perform in football, then I’d lose my scholarship. But I have understood since I was a kid that football and education can go hand in hand.” Mnyamane had trials at Bidvest Wits, Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs, but found his path to the professional game through Varsity Football, which provided the perfect grounding. “To suddenly find ourselves camped at the Garden Court in Milpark ahead of our first game against Wits University got us pumped up. Like really pumped up,” he says. “The professional set-up and television coverage made us feel good. We said, ‘if this is how PSL players go about it every week, then this is what we also want’. I was Man of the Match in my first game on TV.” Mnyamane had current Wits midfielder Xola Mlambo and Orlando Pirates winger Thabo Rakhale as teammates at North West University, before he was snapped up by then top-flight club University of Pretoria. Mnyamane is fairly new on the scene himself, but says he takes his role as an advisor to younger players seriously, especially when it comes to the importance of education. “Everyone has different views and aspirations, but I try to talk to the youngsters that I am close to and advise them to study, even just for a short course. Some listen and some don’t – you can only go as far as advising. However, I have noticed that there is a growing number of players in the PSL who studied or are studying,” he notes. “But when you are in that zone as a professional footballer, it is hard for you to view things the way other people view it. It is easier for a third person to see it because they’re from a different view. “In that zone, it’s hard for you to make the right decisions all the time – I can’t blame players that went from rags to riches and back because I am

in their shoes now and can understand all they dealt with. “It also boils down to support because some people will support you in the good times, but not in the bad times. You might have family support, but when you go down they are not there to take the blame, to also stand with you by saying ‘we were also there when you were up’. “So it’s hard when people judge us based on what other players did. I understand how they got it wrong, I understand what they thought was right and it didn’t work out,” he says. Mnyamane now aims to establish himself as a top player in the PSL. “When I got to AmaTuks I was just happy to be in the PSL. But as time went on, I realised we had to fight relegation and as an attacking player it was really tough because your objectives as an individual then change and you lower your targets,” he says. “It still pains me to have been part of the group that was there when the team went down.” Now at a team that is expected to win trophies, Mnyamane has completely changed his mindset. “As a player your mind has to switch 180 degrees; in this environment the hunger, the passion, the ambition, the drive ... everyone wants to be at their best all the time,” he says. “I’ve scored goals because of the support as well as the squad rotation upfront – everyone who gets a chance scores and assists. “That is why all the SuperSport frontmen either have a goal or an assist because we believe in brotherhood. Whoever gets a chance we support him to do well.” The vocabulary used by Mnyamane now includes “silverware” as he looks to add to his two appearances in the national team jersey. “The mind-set has changed now, the ambition has changed, just like the hunger,” he says. “Obviously now as an individual I want to win silverware with the team and be amongst the nominated players for awards. “With regards to the national team, I believe it is based on merit. It doesn’t matter which club you play for – if you are doing well in your team, then the selectors must take notice of you.”