Meet Coach Vukile.

I fell in love with cricket in 1996 when I watched the Cricket World Cup. My uncle and grandfather's brothers introduced me to the game. As a young man, although I lived in the Western Cape, I would play cricket every summer season when I returned home to the Alice in the Eastern Cape. In 1998 I started playing in Khayelitsha with an NGO called Khwezi Lomso.

In 2002 I unfortunately had to stop playing, because of my electrical engineering studies. I pursued my studies and a career in electronics and in 2011 got an apprenticeship with Golden Arrow as an electrician. As much as this was in the field I’d studied and felt passionate about, I got bored and frustrated. I decided to return to my love of and passion for cricket.

In 2012 I met David Ramsey, who introduced me to the idea of becoming a role model to youth through sport in order to help ensure transformation happens in South African sport. Inspired by this, I decided I wanted to play a part in creating equal opportunities in cricket, and became a coach 2012.

In 12 I started working as a volunteer coach, without getting any income. I even struggled to get hold of equipment and sometimes used to go to bed on an empty stomach. 

In 2015 Gary Kirsten came into Khayelitsha. He made a difference by bringing some equipment and he also adopted schools around the area. In the local schools, there was no sport and Gary decided to employ coaches. He opened doors for us because many players were exposed in the WPCA pipelines. It’s been a wonderful journey for me with the Gary Kirsten Foundation, and I am now able to earn an income for doing something I love. The Gary Kirsten Foundation has changed my life. I am the breadwinner in my family and I can support my children.