Tuks’ Most Valued Player will captain Tuks’ women’s rugby team when they take on UJ in the Varsity Cup Tournament in Johannesburg on Friday.
It may sound confusing, but it’s actually not. Mbali Ndlovu is Tuks’ women’s captain. When she’s not playing rugby, she’s likely to be acting as Tuks’ Most Valued Player (MVP) mascot. Those who have seen her in action claim that when she’s the MVP, there’s no shortage of energy. The same thing happens on the rugby field. She believes in leading from the front.
The stories about how Ndlovu decided to become a mascot and play rugby are equally interesting. Let’s start with the mascot story. She says that she’s always been impressed with the way MVP interacts with the crowd.
Curious about what it’s like to connect with spectators? Ndlovu says, “It led me to want to give it a try. I wanted to experience what it feels like to interact with spectators. How the crowd reacts to the MVP. Usually, I am on the field playing rugby.”
According to Ndlovu, she quickly realised that being a mascot takes its toll.
“It wasn’t a joke the first time I tried to do a few jumps wearing the costume. But as I went along, I mastered the art of being a mascot. The wind is a great ally if you know how to use it. You’re really drained when you come out of the costume. You can’t drink enough water. The longest I’ve been a mascot at once is 5 hours. It was during a basketball tournament. I took mini breaks every now and then and took off the headpiece to recover a bit.”
Ndlovu is one of quite a few students who love taking on the role of MVP.
As for rugby, in primary school she was a keen athlete, but in high school, athletics wasn’t one of the sports. The school’s sports manager mentioned that they would be starting a rugby team. Ndlovu was immediately interested.
“I went from classroom to classroom recruiting players, not with a lot of success. We ended up being five who wanted to play rugby. In the end, it was just me. I was determined to play. I heard about a school nearby that had a women’s rugby team. I started playing for them. This led me to skip classes many times to play rugby.”
As a winger, she often dived over to score tries. Things have changed at Tuks. Ndlovu was asked to play lock because of her height. She is 1.77 metres tall and not quite as fast as she used to be.
“It was not easy to accept that I am no longer playing in the backline. But as time went on, as I mastered the skills of playing lock, I started to enjoy it. I am really effective in the lineouts, jumping for the ball. I also love to scrum. There are a few players who bring so much power to the scrum as I do.
“As a captain, I believe in leading from the front. Every time we scrum or have a lineout, I will make sure that, as forwards, we operate as a unit, not as individuals. Actually, every player needs to step up for us to play as a team.”
Regarding Friday’s game against UJ, Ndlovu said she is not nervous.
“Our training has been going well, so I am confident that we will get the result we have been working for. It is high time that we beat UJ, as they got the better of us in the previous two games.”
