Pretoria. Banyana Banyana player Bontle Mashilo visited her former school, N.M Tsuene High School in Ga-Rankuwa, Pretoria, as part of the Sasol #Limitless internship programme. Bontle Mashilo visited the school on Thursday, 7 February 2019 in the aim of motivating and inspiring the school’s learners.
The #Limitless internship programme, which was launched in July 2018, forms part of Sasol and the South Africa Football Association (SAFA)’s #Limitless initiative. Through this programme, women footballers are given an opportunity to gain work experience and to become skilled in marketing, public relations, sports activations and project management, offering them an opportunity to prepare for the workplace.
As part of the internship programme, Bontle Mashilo and fellow Banyana Banyana player Jermaine Seoposenwe have been working at leading sports marketing agency Levergy, Sasol and SAFA respectively.
“It felt good to be back at my former high school. I’m glad I was able to inspire and motivate the girls at the school, knowing that I was once in their shoes facing the same challenges. I wanted them to understand the importance of balancing football/sports and education, because playing football is not a lifelong career. Women in football need to pursue other careers as well, because if you get an injury like myself, you need something to fall back on. This is why I’m so grateful to Sasol and SAFA for the #Limitless internship programme, because through it, I have received a chance to explore and gain work experience outside of football.” Said Mashilo.
Bontle Mashilo grew up in Ga-Rankuwa, and matriculated from N.M Tsuene High in 2010. Two years after matriculating, she received a bursary to study at the Tshwane University of Technology where she also joined the TUT Ladies football club. She now has a BTech Degree in Sport Management and is currently studying for her MTech in Organisational Leadership.
She finished her term at Levergy in September 2018, and Sasol in January 2019. She is currently working at SAFA and will go back to Levergy to finish the internship.
N.M Tsuene High principal, Mr Nico Matshele added, “We are happy to see one of our students come back to the school and inspire our learners. We are proud of her and all her achievements, despite the challenges she faced while growing up. I hope she comes back again because we need local heroes like her to show the learners that it’s possible to achieve their dreams despite their circumstances.”
The #Limitless internship programme will run until June 2019 and aims to give more deserving female footballers this opportunity in the future.
For more information on the #Limitless initiative and to show your support, search #Limitless on Twitter.
