What started out as a fun way to keep fit during the pandemic will officially become a representative sport at Fort Hare when the university fields its first-ever aerobics team at an USSA event next week.
Fort Hare’s debut at the student championships in East London is down to the foresight of one man, coach Lunga Nobetsiki.
During the national lockdown, the lifelong fitness and karate fanatic desperately needed an outlet to blow off some steam. He found it in the form of aerobics, a passion of his older sister.
When students eventually were allowed back on campus, Nobetsiki thought it might be a good idea to invite some friends to give it a go.
“We had been in quarantine for so long and had gained weight, so I invited them,” he explained.
The first group then told their own friends about Nobetsiki’s drive to get people back in shape and, before you knew it, dozens of students started arriving for the music-driven sessions.
Recognising that there was real interest in the sport at Fort Hare’s Alice campus, the final-year Master’s student felt the time had come to formalise it.
This prompted him to form the Good Hope boot camp, which today welcomes 35 members to push their bodies to the limit twice a day, Monday to Friday.
Fort Hare’s aerobics team will make history by becoming the first from the university to compete at the USSA champs. Photo: Supplied
There are even weeks when Nobetsiki is requested to add Saturdays to the schedule, such is the enthusiasm of the participants.
Having seen other universities enter the University Sports South Africa aerobics championships, he approached sports officer Ziniko Dumaphi to ask whether Fort Hare could follow suit.
Sports manager Loyiso Lange granted his wish and 20 men and women will now make their way to WSU’s EL campus for the December 2 to 4 event.
“Aerobics is an umbrella word for variety of exercises,” Nobetsiki explained.
“With the help of good music, you use your body weight to exercise. You do squats, exercises to work the core. It’s a kind of dancing that puts you in the zone.”
He said there were many similarities with karate in that participants were required to control their bodies and spend day after day trying to perfect their moves.
The first day of the USSAs is reserved for individual competition while the second sees teams of eight performing a routine led by an external instructor.
Nobetsiki said the team were understandably nervous given they were the torchbearers for Fort Hare and drove home the message that confidence would be key to their showing in Buffalo City.
They were also thankful to have the backing of Dumaphi and Lange, he said.
Though he is concluding his academic career at the institution, Nobetsiki hopes to be invited back to prepare the next cohort of USSA competitors.
He would also dearly love to extend the programme to Fort Hare’s East London campus.