Opportunity knocks
Hangklip star athlete lured by Krugersdorp offer
YET another athletics star from Hangklip High School has been lured to another school by a compelling bursary offer.
Rozario Williams, 16, Hangklip’s ace 400m hurdler, has joined sprinter Mikaa-il Mohamed (Tuks Academy of Sport, Pretoria), who was also tempted away by a lucrative offer.
Another promising Hangklip runner, Emile Johannes, recently left for Hoërskool Grens in East London.
Rozario is the son of Beverley Smith and the late Ronald Williams. He started school at Southbourne and completed his primary years at St Theresa’s before going to Hangklip High.
His first sporting love was rugby, on the strength of which he was offered a bursary by Dale.
He only started athletics at high school, where his talent was soon identified and nurtured by the school’s athletics manager, Gussie Lückhoff, and coach Petrus Johannes.
Rozario recently attended an athletics clinic at Daniel Pienaar Technical High School in Uitenhage where the hurdlers were coached by top South African athlete LJ van Zyl and it was there that his ability was noted and the offer of a full scholarship, including all school and hostel fees, at Monument High School in Krugersdorp followed. Within days he had packed and gone.
His mother, Beverley, told The Rep: “His first reaction was ‘Mom, you’re a single mother and this will make life so much easier for you’.
“Both he and I are extremely grateful to Gussie Lückhoff and Petrus Johannes for all the time and effort they put into training him, which ultimately led to this opportunity.
“It is just such a wonderful offer that we could not turn it down.”
Rozario’s grandmother lives nearby in Alberton, so he will be able to visit her when they have weekends out and he is soon to be confirmed, which Beverley and younger brother Rozen will attend.
Monument (commonly known by its nickname Monnas) is a co-ed, parallel-medium school in Krugersdorp with about 1 100 pupils and is generally recognised as one of the top five rugby schools in the country. Among its illustrious alumni is former president and Nobel laureate FW de Klerk.