We are so proud of our Coach Urshwin who received a standing ovation at the ArtscapeTheatre a few Saturdays ago. He starred in a play about two Hanover Park men who struggle to find themselves in a neighbourhood that seems set on trapping them in a life of crime. Although not professionally trained, the play got rave reviews!

Urshwin came to SOHK with a wealth of experience in gang mediation and youth development and he's an incredible role model to young people from his community of Hanover Park. Find out more here! https://www.groundup.org.za/article/dont-miss-your-turning-point/

Charline Little is the Principle at Vista High School located at the top of Signal Hill in Bo Kaap. She was very eager to adopt School of Hard Knocks at her school because she is passionate about holistic learning and creating a better learning environment.

"I want to extend a huge thank you to you and the organisation for allowing Vista High to be a part of the programme. I have been extremely privileged to have observed the coaches interact with the learners, and it really fills me with so much joy to see the learners having so much fun, especially the ones who are extremely troublesome when in a normal class setting.

If you look at - the kids come to the school when SOHK is here. It’s changed. My class, 10C, [Tina] and them they are basically every day in school. They look forward to Wednesdays. And they ask me the day before is SOHK coming, we say they are coming and they are excited to do all these things.

Mrs Little’s colleague at Vista High added ‘if you look at the others their attitudes have changed towards the teachers, they have calmed down and they are working.’

Anger, Resentment and Frustration

Micah describes himself as a typical teenager from the Cape Flats who has endured multiple adversities throughout his life. His mother is a single parent and his dad has been absent since he was seven. Prone to repeating grades at school he confessed to having had no positive role models, ‘never focusing in class’ and delinquent behaviour such as abusing drugs and ‘bunking alot’ Looking back he says he felt ‘anger, resentment and frustration’ with where he found himself, repeating Grade 10 for a second time.

Meeting SOHK

At the beginning of Grade 11 he joined School of Hard Knocks and soon realised that it was more than just a rugby programme. He says ‘through the sport I learnt respect and responsibilities; especially after having to rate ourselves on the [Levels] chart after each session and when the career workshop took place I knew there was definitely something more behind the ‘Hard Knocks.’

He adds ‘Through SOHK, I understood that my past behaviour was leading to a dead end. I felt a need to build myself up to where I want to be one day. 2019 was not easy, but I was kept on track by SOHK staff who didn’t give up on me.’

SOHK encouraged Micah to set goals for himself for 2020, one of which is to become a prefect at school, and he has made this clear to teachers even though they have reservations based on his past reputation. This year [2020] he has been described as a ‘different child’ and (Harold Cressy teacher) Mr. De Storie says “he now stands a good chance of becoming a Prefect”.

Although Micah has gone through traumatic episodes as a teenager he feels that his ‘well-being has improved tremendously; I feel good, I’m confident, humble and ready for anything; the excitement is so real I can hardly contain it.’ He adds that he is thankful that ‘School of Hard Knocks has given me the opportunity to learn about myself.’

But that’s not all!

SOHKs own measure of behaviours used for student self assessment puts peer to peer learning and contribution to helping others at the top of it’s achievements. Therefore we were delighted to learn that over the 2019 Christmas holidays Micah joined a local sports club where he is now an assistant coach teaching learners from his community life skills and education through sport.

“It’s a wonderful experience, the vibe and everyone recognises me as a coach”. He loves the team mates’ acknowledgement, the unity, and says that he may even coach his own team this year. He can see that sport is really his passion. “Through my individual growth I am not hiding from those ‘naughty’ friends anymore, as I have done initially, I want to show them who I am in the hope that they may be inspired too”.

Micah already displays great leadership qualities, a strong sense of self, and SOHK wish him all the best in his future endeavours. We want to say well done on your resilience and allowing us to be part of your journey to be the greatest version of you!

Update* Micah become Prefect in early February 2020. Well done Micah!

2019 was a huge year for SOHK. Our first full year of Schools programmes. As an organisation we worked with 160 youth in 4 schools across Cape Towns CBD, and we are encouraged by a strong belief and real evidence that the ‘Hard Knocks’ are having a positive impact on coaches, teachers and players alike. Find out more by downloading our Annual Report.

Kyle Bown has enjoyed an illustrious career as a professional rugby player. His achievements are unparalleled and he recently retired at the top of his game.

In Episode 2 of social media series, Overcoming the Hard Knocks, Kyle shared with us some of the mental games he had to deal with on his rugby journey.

Ahle Fisa, Grade 10 at Trafalgar High, has participated in SOHK since the beginning of the 2019. Since she joined she reports levels of resilience and personal growth.

Ahle was suspended quite a few times at the beginning of the year for displaying ‘acting out’ behaviour. On one occasion she was stabbed during a fight at the school, and there was also another incident where she was suspended for arguing with a teacher and for fighting with a boy at school.

This year she is repeating Grade 10. Since she joined the SOHKs sessions our Counsellor Kauthar has reported that she has calmed down a lot and is passing all her subjects. She speaks positively and has developed ambition through learning her character strengths. She says she can’t wait to come to the sessions as “it provides opportunities for growth and the coaches always offers words of encouragement."

Summing up the year she stated “I feel like we (SOHK staff) had a certain bond, we learned so much stuff. When I needed someone to talk to, whenever I needed to share something with someone, I knew Coach would be there, and was always there for me.”