Regina Mundi supports young leader development through athletics. In our home town of Middelburg, South Africa the Kanonkop High School Girls Field Hockey Team is one such leadership success. The learners are multinational and multicultural – competing with teams throughout the province and the country. Several graduates have gone onto higher education in the United States and in schools of members of the British Commonwealth community.

The coach is a leader in her own right, Suretha Maartens, who is the 2013 World Transplant Games Gold Medalist in the 100 Meter Dash & Long Jump, as well as the 2015 World Champion for the Long Jump. Her remarkable story, surviving a double kidney transplant, and then competing to win only two years later is an inspiration for her learners.

The development of young leaders is a critical role for the business community – and Regina Mundi looks to become involved where popular attention is not focused.

Representatives of the Regina Mundi team were on hand at the Kanonkop team’s acknowledgement ceremony, and shared personal stories of what young women can accomplish in the pursuit of personal dreams. The Hockey team were encouraged by these stories of struggle and success. One of the team members has already reached out to us in the hopes of being supported for a gap year program while staying in South Africa.  Another has asked about studying in America.

Our idea for individual empowerment is manifest in the decisions and actions of many of these young women as reported to us. Sport and sporting have been both the glue which binds these young women together, but it is also a source of self-esteem based on the values of honesty, empathy, and courage.