Quote of the month:
“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar
Limitless World Magazine
Letter from the editor
Le tte r f rom The editor The last month of the year is finally upon us and I’m certain many can’t wait to kick up and relax. Go ahead, trust me you’ve earned it! It really has been a year of Ls. But talking about Ls, I want to refrain from expressing it in a negative manner. Instead of referring to Ls as losses, let’s rather call them lessons. I believe we learnt as a collective on how to adapt to the current way of life and the new norm. It takes getting used to but we’ll get there. These covid-19 times have showed us that the future truly is digital. It’s an exciting time as ecommerce is booming now more than ever! SMEs and start-ups have been forced to step up and adapt or otherwise risk in becoming obsolete. The professional sports and entertainment industries have also undergone major transformation, where online streaming has become the most popular outlet for reaching the masses. In all the years I have been alive, I have never thought that a professional sports game would ever be played in an empty arena while relying on live streaming to reach the audience but here we are. This year, 2020 also taught us to appreciate our loved ones more. I am certain many people lost someone they care about during this changeling time. All we can do going forward, is to live and chase our dreams as a way to honor those we love. Looking on to 2021, my hope for all our readers, is perfect health, blissful happiness and abundant wealth. Let’s get it! Yours truly, KZ Chester Mbekela Chief Digital Editor Limitless World Magazine Tokyo, Japan -Asia
Table of Contents
20 Questions: Tahla Ntshakaza
Esports Chat
Best food for athletes Technology talk Athlete of the Month
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20 Questions with: Tahla Ntshakaza- Former rugby referee Question 1 Please introduce yourself and tell us a little about you. Hi There, my name is Tahla Ntshakaza and I am from Queenstown in the Eastern Cape. I love to travel,I love sports and anything that involves health and fitness. After I completed high school, I spent a lot of my time playing club rugby. This lead to me getting into refereeing. I did this for about 5 to 6years and then took a much needed 2 year break. Eventually I returned and continued with my refereeing journey.
Question 2 So when did the rugby Journey begin for you? For me it began when my dad bought me a rugby ball in grade R! That’s how young I was(laughs). I think my father realized how big the sport was, so he wanted to expose me to it. Real rugby began when I entered the 1st grade at 6 years old. Queens College is a big rugby school and most of my friends played too.
“ All the singing and cheering sparked something in me to believe that the game could be a career”
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Question 3 When did ou realize that you had a passion for the game? The beauty of the school we went to was that, after our games, we often watched the older kids play in high school. All the singing and cheering sparked something in me to believe that the game could be a career, but I didn’t know how though. All I knew was, I wanted to play this game at a high level.
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Question 4
Would you please share with us, your favourite primary school rugby memory? My best memory was being promoted to the A-Team in my u/10 year. We had this very quick guy in the team by the name of Khaya Mbengu. I enjoyed playing with him and watching him run around guys to score tries. That dude won so many games for us. Parents were always cheering and screaming “baleka!� which means run!
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Question 5 How quickly did you adapt from primary school rugby to high school rugby? I adapted quite well and felt that I grew into the player I became from there. When we got to open rugby, It was a tough transition. Because there was no u/16 A Rugby, I had to play 5th team Rugby and I was not happy about that. But in time, I learnt to accept it and it ended up being quite fun. (laughs).
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Question 8
Question 6
When did you decide that you wanted to pursue a career within the rugby industry, after high school?
What would you say is the major difference Between junior and high school rugby? I would say in junior school, the game was still more about fun. In high school, the games meant a lot more. Pride was at stake and people were watching you for the future. Beating our rivals was vital because that’s how we earned their respect. Playing against Dale and Selborne for as many years as I did, getting the win meant so much to my teammates and I. We always knew that we wouldn’t play together again so we gave everything on the field.
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Question 7 Would you share with us, your favorite high school rugby memory? My best memory is beating Selborne College at home. They were highly ranked at the time and no one gave us a chance. I beat them playing with some of my best mates and when the final whistle went, everyone went mad with the crowd running onto the field! It was so epic!
I was studying graphic design and playing club rugby at university in Durban. All my assessments featured rugby and Springbok things. I didn’t have the guts to tell my mom though. When writing exams, I would go to games with a friend who was a referee. I would watch him do his thing and honestly, I would say God put it in my spirit that this was an option if I really wanted it.
Question 9 How was your experience whenyou attended the sharks Academy? I was on a bursary and my mom didn’t have to pay a cent. All I did for 3 years was eat at the lunch room, watch game clips, attend practices and gym. It was a dream come true. I got to meet and rub shoulders with pro rugby players. At the end of my Academy days, I was an assistant analyst at the Sharks. It was such an amazing experience. the Sharks Rugby Union and the Sharks academy were special when I was there. That institution changed everthing for me.
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Question 12 When did you decide to call it time on your playing career, to focus on being a ref? So during my time at the academy, I played club rugby and attended the academy for the referee program. I thought I could do them both but would later find out that I couldn’t. Question 10 What attracted you to the Sharks Academy? The funny thing about that is that I wasn’t in Durban for rugby. I was there because of my graphic design studies. It just so happened that God put that dream of becoming a rugby referee in my heart, and made a way for it to happen for me. After watching my friend do his referee thing I sent an email to SA Rugby expressing my desire to become a referee. I was fortunate to enroll in the Sharks referee program and became the first of four refrees to be at the Sharks Academy at the time. It was truly a blessing.
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It took me a while to accept that I could no longer be a Question 11 player because of refereeing. A lot of my associates at the academy told me that So when attending the Sharks I’d have to choose. Academy, did you have any playing ambitions? It was tough to comprehend that I I went specifically for refereeing. The academy had established a program for referees so I enrolled in that. I still remember the first day we attended, I got to see the rugby lawbook for the first Time ever! Players play the Game without ever taking the Time to read the law book. It was mind blowing to read The lawbook for the first time
I wouldn’t be able to play the game anymore.
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Question 13
“My inspiration came from watching my friend do his referee thing.”
What made you choose refereeing specifically, as opposed to coaching? For me, my inspiration came from watching my friend do his referee thing. So after the third of fourth time watching him, I wanted to get involved as I saw a future for me.
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Question 14 Could you share your professional debut as a ref in SA? So in SA, one has to first ref at tournaments in order to get graded. The goal for every ref is to officiate the final match of the day. My break came after refereeing at a tournament in Cape Town. I was chosen to be in the academy squad for referees and went up the SA rugby ranks. Getting a chance to ref at KES and Trinitiy House festivals’ ‘final games’ was good for my exposure.
Question 15 Which game was your most memoriable while In SA? That’s a tough one. There are so many! I would say the Varsity Cup final 2015 between Pukke and Kovsies. My first TV game was also very memoriable, back in 2013.
Question 16 What are the challenges that referees go through? The biggest challenge for any ref is the whole thing around individualism. If you aren’t refereeing at the highest leve, then you’re mostly by yourself. Adjusting to that sort of ‘loneliness’ was a major challenge for me.
Ques tio n 17 W hich other coun tries did you have a chance to officiate games in? The first country I refereed in outside South Africa, was Japan, in Fukuoka. That was such an amazing experience. I was so stoked that SA Rugby chose me to go and represent that side and officiate a game. I refereed games in Dubai, Georgia and Russia as well. Those experiences sparked my desire to travel.
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Question 18 Having lived abroad, could you tell us how the other nations rugby industries are, compared to the SA rugby industry? So with the UAE, they aren’t under world rugby union. Their set up is a semi pro society. With the expat community presence, it is well organized and well run. However, there is a disconnect between the clubs admin and league admin along with the local UAE rugby admin. I was also impressed with the rugby industry set up in Georgia. they aren’t a tier one nation, but their set up is decent.
Question 19 Which country was The most enjoyable For you? (laughs) I honestly cannot Compare the two Countries. I lived in Dubai for three years and Georgia for one year. They are worlds apart! Dubai was easier for me because of the expat community. The dry conditions also made it more similar to back home. Georgia on the other hand was a little Tougher with the language barrier. Lifestyle wise, obviously Dubai is a world class city but Georgian people are amazing and gave me the most love. Both countries have amazing qualities!
Question 20 If a young kid wanted To reach out to you, How could they get in Touch? They can reach me on Instagram @tahla_mmxiv Basically my advice to any young person would be to go after their dreams. Becoming a referee opened doors for me that I could have never imagined. It allowed me to travel and meet amazing people. It allowed me to grow my Network as well. I feel like every young person,once in their life, should travel everywhere. Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Do it!
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Best Food For Athletes: Fruits & Veggies Athletes of any calibre are frequently in search of diets that can help elevate their performance. Every athlete’s desire is to have an edge over their competition. Nowdays, everybody is training hard and putting in that work, meaning that the fineline that seperates the great from the mediocre, is a healthy balanced diet. Back in the day, athletes could get away with bad nutritional habbits, but in this modern era, that definitely isn’t the case. What athletes consume on a daily basis in preparation for their sport determines their very outcome on the day of competing. The competition and talent gap has now become so narrow, that attention to detail has become a necessity for every sporting organization. Consuming the sufficient amount of nutrients is critical for reaching peak performance. Fruit and veggies remain at the helm, along with proteins and carbs for high intensity sporting codes. Athletes need that energy to burn! Advice we always need to remember from our moms: “Always eat your veggies and fruits kids”
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Esports news This is the first year that FIBA was able to organize such a FIBA Esports Open tournament and in all fairness, 2020 II was a resounding success. Covid-19 forced all sporting The winners of the FIBA Esports Open entities to adjust and implement 2020 II have been confirmed as they an online sports tournament, hence are a total of six. The Countries are the rise of esports. It is now a billion Turkey, Argentina, USA, Ivory Coast, dollar industry! Saudi Arabia and Australia. The tournament took place over three Esports is definitely here to stay weekends in November and December. because this world we live in is the new norm.
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It will be interesting to see where the future of esports is headed. One thing is for sure, teams have identified how Profitable esports is because of live streaming. The world of sports has done well in adjusting to the new norm and the new world of live streaming. Interesting times!
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Technology talk Virtual Reality When mentioning virtual reality, a lot of people people imagine science fiction movies and so forth. The truth is, this tech trend has become blended with our daily lives. I kid you not! It is present in video games, medicine and pretty much in our education system as well. This new from of technology is here to stay.
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I’m pretty sure by now most of you are like “what is virtual reality?� I am glad you asked. VR is defined as a computer generated environment with objects and scenes that appear to be so real, that the user is sure they could feel and touch them.
Virtual reality has gained a lot of its popularity in the medicine, education and architechtural industries. VR allows us as users to cross boundaries that would have never deemed imaginable. The gaming industry is also having a field day with the latest technology from virtual reality. We really are fortunate to live in such an exciting era.
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Athlete Of The Month: Brandan Striplin Professional basketball playerSaitama Broncos Tokyo, Japan
Profile Name: Brandan Striplin Nickname: B.Strip Country of birth: USA Place of birth: Oakland, CA Sporting code: Professional Basketball Player Instagram handle: @bee_strip Current team: Saitama Broncos Bio: Oakland native B.Strip will play in his sixth season in Japan. Having played at college level and in the NBA G-League, B brings the edge and intensity to the Japanese baskeball game. The 33 year old has had his fair share of disappointments after missing the entire season in 2019, due to a knee injury. With commitment and dedication, B.Strip fought his way back from injury to full fitness and signed a contract to play for the Saitama Broncos in the upcoming Bleague B3 competition. His journey has been hugely inspirational and we wish him well for the season ahead! Let’s get it B! 20
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