IPELENG NYATLO would not necessarily have foreseen it this way. But a little over a decade ago when she quit athletics for basketball, she had an idea she was on to something good.
As good as being national champion? Not necessarily. But that’s exactly what the lass from Masosobane village near Phokeng, Rustenburg in the North West province is on the verge of becoming.
Along with her Tshwane Suns teammates, the 25-year-old will this weekend (Saturday and Sunday) attempt to stop the Cape Town Mountaineers from completing a three-peat of victories in the National Basketball League. The two teams will battle it out for glory at the Mandeville Sports and Social Club in Johannesburg and for Nyatlo, success would mean the world. It would be a culmination - somewhat - of a career that began amidst strong resistance from those who should have backed her.
“I’d be very happy about it (winning the championship). It would mean a lot. I’ve never won it before. And it is great to win. It feels like getting on another level. It’s like ‘let’s go, what’s next’.”
The thrill of victory though will be secondary to the confirmation she made the right choices and sacrifices.
“Winning would be a reminder that the hard work, the commitment paid off. I am still based in Rustenburg and to make it to practices I have to come to Joburg and it’s a lot of trips between the two provinces. So, winning the championship would really reflect that commitment – the driving up and down. And when you see that what you were putting an effort into is coming into fruition, it is very good, amazing. Everybody loves to win.”
What’s been amazing is her rise and rise in the sport she only got involved in due to boredom during the off-season of her then sport of choice.
Nyatlo was initially into athletics and was good enough in both track and cross country that she earned provincial colours as a youngster. But when she accompanied a friend to a basketball training because “athletics season was over and I was lazy to walk home alone so I went with him”, she discovered a new love that she has held onto since.
“I found the atmosphere at basketball different and the interaction fascinated me. But it was a struggle to leave athletics because for a while I did the two sports concurrently until I was forced to make a choice. In ninth grade I had qualified for the provincials in athletics, but I also had basketball trials for the (national team). So there was a clash. That was the moment I had to choose. And I chose basketball because I loved that it was a team sport and in it you get to develop more friendships and make sisters. I enjoyed it more.”
Making the choice was pretty eventful though, almost traumatic.
“I remember the incident when I was about to get into transport to go to the basketball trials and my teacher and athletics coach said I could not go. There was a serious back and forth because he was not happy with it. But I’d already made up my mind.”
That was in 2014 and in the same year she was invited to the world renowned Basketball Without Borders Camp (Africa) where her eyes were opened to the possibilities in the sport.
Of course, she quickly realised her level was pretty low in comparison to some of the players from countries such as Mali, Nigeria and Mozambique and that fired her up to want to get even better. Two more invitations to the Africa camp were followed by one to the global camp in Canada in 2016.
She was in matric that year and her school principal was reluctant to allow her to attend, the fact it was only in January notwithstanding. Nyatlo has vivid memories of her fight for a lifetime opportunity.
“I got chosen for the global camp during the African leg and there were just five of us from the continent but then I went into the principal’s office to tell her I would be going away for a week. She was only thinking about school and said I can’t go because she did not want me dropping my performance. But it was just a week, and I was a top student so it was not going to do much harm. And the year had barely begun. They even called my aunt to the school to try and speak me out of the trip. But I felt it was a big opportunity but they saw it as a distraction. I ended up telling them, ‘suspend me if you like, but I am going’. And it was great because I learnt so much there and got to grow as a player.”
She really has grown because after high school she went to study at Wits University through a basketball scholarship and won the USSA Championships in the first year. She also represented the country at international level representing South Africa in the Zone Six (Southern Africa) Games for tertiary institutions.
Academically, Nyatlo graduated and embarked on work for three years. Work saw her playing very little basketball to the detriment of her mental health and a psychologist advised her to go back.
“Being at work I felt like something was missing. It got to a stage where work was no longer enjoyable. The schedule was hectic and went on a downward spiral mental health-wise. I had stopped doing the things I loved so I reached out to the therapist and she helped remind me how I used to just go distress at basketball court when I was a student. But with work all that was gone. She said to me go back to doing the thing you love and get fuel from it so you can do the things you have to do.”
She played with Rising Suns in tournaments and was later recruited to Tshwane Suns where she has seen herself and her game grow in leaps and bounds. So much so that she is on the verge of becoming a national champion this weekend.