"Residing in rural areas, having to watch your peers bowing down to substances and lacking opportunities to showcase your flair is a lot to digest"

  ANDY MEHLAPE, A TOPFLIGHT FOOTBALLER FROM SEGOPJE( GA-VAN-VUUR).

Growing up in rural areas is hard, you are faced with so many challenges. As a footballer I encountered challenges day-in and out, but none of them devoured my passion and desire. I grew up watching my uncle (Isaka kaka) playing football, he’s my inspiration and later I discovered that my late father was also the talk of town during his football days, pity I never got a chance to watch him playing. Residing in rural areas, having to watch your peers bowing down to substances and lacking opportunities to showcase your flair is a lot to digest, but I kept pushing because I had faith. I so much wanted to change my family’s situation and I went wild at that. I believe we can all prosper in what we do, provided we work hard. Every individual come face to face with their fate, it’s in their fiber to choose what to do with their situations. To upcoming players and those based in rural areas, I would say bury your effort in every game because you will never know who is watching, we can all make it to the topflight football, note that.