Meet Coach Sivu.
My name is Sivuyile Mfunelwa and I’m a level 2 coach at the Gary Kirsten Foundation. I started playing cricket at Impendulo Primary School between 2001 and 2007. I started with mini cricket and played up to u13. I had the privilege of becoming player of the year in 2006 and batsman of the year in 2007.
My dream and my wish was to become a professional cricketer, but growing up in township, with the lack of quality facilities, I was unable to pursue this goal.
After Primary school I lost my passion for cricket because I was not able to attend a top school where I could accomplish my academics and play cricket at the same time. I went to a local school in Khayelitsha where there was no cricket at all. Between 2008 and 2015 I lost all my skills and my talent due to the lack of facilities and infrastructure.
One day I visited Impendulo Primary School and I saw boys practising in the middle of an open field without a coach. I started to show them techniques and some of the skills I still had. They were very impressed by my skills; they had never seen someone like me in their township with the skills that I had At that point in time, I was very depressed, not studying, not working and things were tough at home.
My love for cricket was revived by these youngsters and I kept visiting the school. I showed them my cricket awards and certificates. They couldn't believe it. I started coaching them without any coaching qualifications. I was just doing what I was taught by my primary school coach and what I had seen on T.V.
I kept networking with other coaches and attending cricket games with these boys, coaching without any formal qualifications and very little experience.
In 2015 I did my CSA level 1 course, and I was given the opportunity to coach girls in one of the schools in Khayelitsha. I produced 1 provincial player who is now playing for WP Girls u19.
In 2016 I started working for the Gary Kirsten Foundation in Khayelitsha. This is where my coaching skills have really started to grow. Every day I’m inspired with more and more hope that I can become a good coach by working with Gary, a former South African batsman and World Cup winning coach.
Passion, commitment and dedication is what has helped me the most to be the coach I am today.
In 2017 I got the opportunity to coach in Mauritius, under the mentorship of Ryan Van Niekerk. Ryan is one of the coaches that has taught me a lot about the coaching industry, and helped me in many other areas of work and life, including skills, family, finances and administration.
In 2018 I had the opportunity to take an u15 township team to Hilton College for 5 days in the Sunfoil National Tournament. Although it was a great learning opportunity, unfortunately we did not play our best cricket at Hilton College. In 2019 I travelled to the United Kingdom as head coach of the Gary Kirsten Foundation u13 team. As part of the Cricket World Cup tour, we spent 10 days playing and watching cricket. It was the experience of a lifetime for me, with memories that will be with me forever. The experience has helped develop my coaching cricket career in terms of learning, and sharing my cricket skills and knowledge with players. I made mistakes, learned from my mistakes, and I have improved as a young coach.
Another highlight in 2019 was joining Somerset College as Head Coach of the u14 A team. Growing up in the township and coming from a poor family, the Somerset College job is a big achievement and a dream come true. I never thought that one day I would have the privilege of leading a team from a private school. Before I started coaching there, the boys had had a terrible 2018/19.
Although it was tough for me, because I thought I could not meet the standards coming from the township, I tried my best to show off my coaching skills and learn from the best coaches, like Gary. One of the most important things for me as a coach is to create fun and allow players to express themselves when they are around their peers because that is one of the few places for them to have fun. We have to be strict sometimes, but at the end of the day it’s not about us, it’s about the next generation of cricket players and the future that they will face tomorrow.
We had a wonderful 2019/2020 season; we played our best cricket and won 90% of our games. In 2020 I was promoted to Head Coach of the u15s. We had a great season. I also got to do extra coaching for the prep school, for mini cricket and u13.
Today I am what I am because of cricket. Not everyone can make a living out of sport, but I am grateful that I am one of those who can make a living doing what I love.