Maduna advances in fencing world
SA star to coach Bangladesh
Sello Maduma is a passionate man with a rare talent for combining the beauty of art and action in sport.
The Mamelodi-born Olympic fencing legend has got another big break in the sport he has devoted his time to for more than a decade.
Maduma, 30, will jet off to Bangladesh in four weeks to coach that country’s national fencing team – the first African to do so.
Although fencing is not one of the staples of the South African sporting diet, Maduma made a name for himself internationally, taking part in the Olympics and travelling to more than 20 countries during a career spanning 18 years.
Maduma burst onto the fencing scene in 2000, when he joined Mamelodi Fencing Club as a 12-year-old and has never looked back since.
In December, Bangladesh Fencing Association announced on its social media page that it had appointed Maduma to take charge at the end of the month.
“Now I can say I am a professional coach. I am going to coach a national team in Bangladesh,” said an excited Maduma.
He will settle in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
The appointment means Maduma will now transition from playing the sport to coaching full-time.
The lanky fencer legend is not thinking about retirement, though.
“I cannot say I have retired as a fencer,” he told Sowetan.
In 2014 Maduma was sidelined by a shoulder operation for nearly a year. During his recovery he started preparing for life after fencing by enrolling for a coaching course in Senegal for 11 months.
On his return from injury Maduma came second at the SA Champs in Bloemfontein, losing by a point. Less than a month after that he won a championship in Durban, proving to himself, and many others, that he still had what it takes to be at the top.
Maduma said he was surprised to find that even though he had not announced his retirement from active fencing, there was a demand for his services as a coach from clubs around the country.
“When I came back [from Senegal] there was a lot of interest for me to coach. I went to Eastern Cape, East London in particular, Cape Town and Nelspruit in Mpumalanga.”
Maduma said before the Bangladesh job came through, which will provide him with his first salary in the sport, he had to work elsewhere to support his career. He had only coached clubs around the country on short invitations, some of which lasted for a week.
He hopes to leave a legacy in Bangladesh. “I already have ideas,” he said.
Maduma represented South Africa in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, in the world championships five times, once in the Commonwealth Games, six times at the African Championships and once at the All Africa Games.