Sihle Ntuli the path-breaker: The only black coach at Junior Hockey World Cup

Only black coach at the World Cup doesn’t feel the pressure of being a flag-bearer, says South African ecosystem is becoming more diverse and is a reflection of their demographics
South Africa chief coach Sihle Ntuli (Photo | YouTube screengrab)
South Africa chief coach Sihle Ntuli (Photo | YouTube screengrab)

BHUBANESWAR:  As far as legacies go, Sihle Ntuli is on the verge of etching a chapter for himself in South Africa’s hockey history. On Wednesday, he became the first black man to be the chief coach for the country at a men’s FIH event.   

He doesn’t feel the pressure of being the flag-bearer but the importance of the message isn’t lost on him. “It’s really important to us, to me anyway, to just get the message across to people back home who had the same upbringing as me, same challenges as me to realise that they also can be sitting here if they do commit to doing what they want to do,” he says during a Zoom interaction. “SA hockey and SA in general is working very hard to transform our sport and make it accessible to everyone irrespective of race.”

This of course isn’t just a hockey problem in South Africa but a problem in the sport worldwide. There is unequal representation in the sense that most of the coaches are white: Sihle, for example, is the only black chief coach at the World Cup.

Sihle Ntuli
Sihle Ntuli

Born and bred in Durban before relocating to Pretoria to work there three years ago, he says ‘it’s obvious’. “It’s there. You can’t help but see it. But it’s not something that I consciously think about. I know I belong here, and I have earned my opportunity to be here. For me, it’s not about the colour. Coming from South Africa, having come through the playing days and now coaching in a sport that is quite white-dominated, being at the Junior World Cup or even at the Olympics and so on, it’s something I am used to. You can’t help but see the colour, and I think we should embrace it.

“But it’s not a pressure thing for me. I am very confident in my ability, it’s not about proving anything to anyone. For me, it’s about proving my ability and knowledge to myself and challenging my players and myself. How people view our team and what it looks like, I can’t control that. But I am very proud that as a black African male, I am representing a large group back home that possibly never thought that it was possible for someone like me to be the head coach of a national team.”

Ntuli didn’t even dream of this dream when he was growing up in a township. Even as he dabbled in football as a kid, he knew hockey was his calling just as he turned 10. Most black kids — Ntuli says the scenario has changed for the better in this generation — wouldn’t normally get the chance but the 32-year-old calls himself ‘lucky’. “I grew up in a township, access to the game wasn’t easy. But I was fortunate to attend a well-off school because my mom worked at the school. So my brother and I attended the school. Through that, I got access.”

Ntuli used that access to rise up the ranks. He played in provincial teams before making the grade in age-group national sides till the Under-21 level. However, a back injury meant he hung up his stick in 2013 before he started taking coaching full-time.

To sort of prove his point that hockey is more diverse these days, his younger brother, Nqobili, took up the stick once he left it. He progressed even further and both the Ntulis went to the Tokyo Games in August. Nqobili as player and Sihle as assistant coach of the senior men’s side.

Zenani Kraai, one of the players from the Langa township of Cape Town (hockey, incidentally, was brought to it by Bob Woolmer) in the junior squad, says stories like Ntuli’s ‘inspire’ people. That is what the coach aims to do. In fact, one of the reasons why he likes India (he had come to Bhubaneswar in 2018 for the senior World Cup as well) so much is how hockey is played by all. He wants to change this perception — Zenani calls it a ‘stereotype’ that hockey is viewed as a sport for the elites —  and show that hockey can be played ‘by all’. 

“I said to my boys before coming ‘I can’t wait for you to get there’ because it’s the first time they are travelling here (India), it’s to see how hockey in this country is for everyone.” If they can successfully do that, Ntuli’s legacy will be set in stone.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com