You Need

Four years ago, Prince “Coach Prince” Modiba took on a journey that changed the lives of close to 100 Soweto youths.

The Andrew Mlangeni Golf Academy became the first of its kind in the area, training approximately 90 children and youths in golf.

It has not been easy but the young golfers, armed with determination, strive against the odds. Watch the video above.

“I come from a golfing family. My dad was a tour golf player and my uncle as well,” says Modiba.

The 31-year-old coach has been playing golf professionally since he was 19.

When the Soweto Country Club approached him to propose the academy, Modiba was eager to pass on the skills of the sport that defined his life.

He visited a number of schools in Soweto recruiting hesitant, sceptical youths. 

“It was a little bit challenging,” says Modiba. “If you come to a school and say, okay – I’m a golf coach, the first thing is the kids are unsure about it.”

Modiba says most of the learners were sceptical as they were accustomed to soccer.

To them, golf paled in comparison as an exciting sport. Nonetheless, they gave the “new” sport a try and soon, their attitudes changed.

“[I prefer] golf,” says 13-year-old Jabulani Ndlovu who plays both golf and soccer.

The young golfer began playing four years ago and has excelled, says his coach. 

“He’s playing with the big boys now,” says Modiba. 

Ndlovu now plays at B-Division and dreams of making it all the way to the top.

“I want to see myself playing with McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day,” he says, listing some of the world’s top golfers.

The Grade 7 learner trains daily at the Academy. When he is not training, he is playing at tournaments such as those hosted by the Central Golf Club Union. 

Ndlovu and his fellow golfers at the Andrew Mlangeni Golf Academy have been thriving, featuring in the top three in their divisions at regional tournaments.

However, while they excel their coach is preoccupied with ensuring their improvement and more importantly, that they will be able to continue playing.

Funding Woes

At the beginning of the academy, Modiba says he and the other coaches shared the load of training the young golfers.

However, they had to cut back when they failed to secure funding.

“We had to let go of some other coaches because we weren’t getting the funding,” Modiba says. 

“There’s a certain ratio to coaching so we just narrowed [down] the kids a little bit so that we can be hands on with them.”

Modiba says the lack of funding has also impacted other areas of the academy’s performance.

For one, they do not have access to other golf courses due to lack of transportation fees. When they play at tournaments, they essentially play at golf courses on which they’ve not had practice.

“They need to know the golf courses they play on so that they are familiar with the environment,” says Modiba.

“They need to train everyday and at different golf courses.”

This is important to allow the golfers room to adapt and make informed plays on the courses.

Modiba says the academy has been running without a budget. Fortunately, a few good Samaritans offered financial assistance making it possible for them to afford food, transport and gear.

“It’s been stressful but I’m going to do it regardless,” says Modiba.

“We’re going to get the next Tiger Woods from Soweto Country Club. Mark my words.”

Melbourne – Banned Australian player Cameron Bancroft on Wednesday confirmed David Warner asked him to alter the ball during the tampering scandal in South Africa and said he went along with it “to fit in”.

Bancroft was seen using sandpaper to try to rough up the ball in the Cape Town Test in March, receiving a nine-month ban from international and domestic cricket for his part in an incident that rocked the sport.

Warner and then captain Steve Smith were exiled for a year after all three were found to be involved.

A Cricket Australia investigation pointed to Warner as the mastermind and Bancroft revealed more details in an interview with former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist on Fox Sports.

“Dave suggested to me to carry the action out on the ball given the situation we were in the game and I didn’t know any better,” said Bancroft, whose ban runs out this weekend.

“I didn’t know any better because I just wanted to fit in and feel valued really. As simple as that.

“The decision was based around my values, what I valued at the time, and I valued fitting in … you hope that fitting in earns you respect and with that, I guess, there came a pretty big cost for the mistake.”

At the time, Bancroft had been forging a new Australian Test opening partnership with the more experienced Warner. But he made clear he did not consider himself a victim.

“I had a choice and I made a massive mistake and that is what is in my control,” said Bancroft, who admitted he often pondered what would have happened if he had said no, and concluded it was a no-win situation.

“I would have gone to bed and I would have felt like I had let everybody down. I would have felt like I had let the team down. I would have left like I had hurt our chances to win the game of cricket.”

Last week Smith also opened up as he begins to re-emerge into public life, distancing himself from the plot while admitting he failed as a captain by turning a blind eye.

Asked what happened in the changing rooms at Cape Town before Bancroft attempted to cheat, he said: “For me in the room, I walked past something and had the opportunity to stop it and I didn’t do it and that was my leadership failure.

“It was the potential for something to happen and it went on and happened out in the field,” he added.

“I had the opportunity to stop it at that point rather than say, ‘I don’t want to know anything about it’.”

A scathing independent review into the incident blamed Cricket Australia’s “arrogant and controlling” culture as partly contributing to players bending the rules.

In an interview with Gilchrist on Wednesday, Smith pinpointed a downward slide in the team’s culture to a defeat against South Africa in Hobart in 2016 — their fifth loss in a row.

“I remember James Sutherland and Pat Howard coming into the (changing) rooms there and saying ‘we don’t pay you to play, we pay you to win’,” he said, referring to the former CA chief executive and high performance manager.

“For me that was a little bit disappointing, we don’t go out there to try lose games of cricket, we go out there to try and win and play the best way we can.”

Current CA chief Kevin Roberts said Wednesday it was time to move on.

“The events of Cape Town were investigated and dealt with some nine months ago now so there’s no new news there,” he told reporters ahead of the third Test against India in Melbourne.

Bancroft is expected to make his return for the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League on Sunday, with Smith and Warner available from late March.