Rising golf star Gabriel Khumalo has advised fellow young sports personalities not to let their talent in sport go to waste because of school. Khumalo has been one of the most outstanding junior golfers in Zambia winning the prestigious Kansanshi Junior Tournament three times in a role to assert his dominance in the sport among the youths. The tournament features pupils from 10 schools. The most recent tournament he competed in was Kennedy Kaunda (KK) Memorial Golf Tournament, which was held in memory of Zambia’s founding President Kenneth Kaunda at State House on April 28. Khumalo signed out with impressive scores although the tournament was not very competitive as it was meant to celebrate the life of Kaunda. Khumalo credits his steady improvement in golf to his mother Naomi Tetamashimba, who is Permanent Secretary for special duties at Cabinet. He says his parents have been supportive and, as a result, he has been able to balance school and sport without much challenges. He admits that academic work should be given more time but advised against ignoring God-given talent. “My motivation is, first of all, my family, my mum and dad, my siblings, who push me every day to work harder and I just have such a desire to make it professional in golf and that pushes me every day,” he says.

Khumalo advised upcoming players that want to put their sports career on hold and concentrate on education to give both a chance. He says there is no guarantee that everyone can succeed in academic works, hence the need to take both seriously. He says people are gifted differently and someone can shut the door to success by neglecting talent in sport. “I think the main thing is that everyone should know that God has different paths for everyone, and sometimes school might not be your path, and if you keep shutting down your sports career by saying that you need to do academics, you may be closing this path that God has made for you,” he said. “I first started playing golf when I was four years old with my dad. My idol in golf is Tiger Woods because he’s just such a good example for my career and I just look up to him. I believe one day I will be able to realise my dream of playing at the highest level.” Although he has been managing to balance school and sport, he plans to focus more on golf once he completes Form Five. “Every time I just remember that academics come first and I just tell myself that if I do well in my academics and I finish that properly, I’ll be able to have time for my golf,” he says. “But whilst I’m at school, I try to finish all my schoolwork, so it gives me time to do my golf and any other activities,” says Khumalo, a Form Four pupil. “So encourage all those that love sport that I think they should do what they love and keep working hard at school. Others may fail to do well in academics, maybe their talent is in sport, so I think it’s important that we take both seriously.” With all the support he is receiving, Khumalo is likely to raise the Zambian flag high at international competitions in future.