Photo: Karabo Morapedi in action at Cairo, Egypt.  

Sports at the Central University of Technology not only lead students into successful sports careers but also contribute significantly to the student body's well-being.

Recently, Mr Karabo Morapedi, a final year Public Management student at Welkom Campus, realised his childhood dream of becoming an internationally recognised athlete.

He represented the university and South Africa at the World Boccia Africa Regional Championships that took place from 2-10 July 2023, and he is through to the 2024 Summer Paralympic qualifying Games to be held in Paris, France.

Karabo started playing Boccia ball in 2009 while still in Grade 3. At Grade 7, he started competing on the Provincial level. His talent in this game led to him competing and succeeding in various tournaments.  Boccia (pronounced bot-cha) is a Paralympic sport that is similar to bowls. It is a target ball sport which tests both muscle control and accuracy. Boccia has been a Paralympic sport since the 1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York, Paralympic Games. Nowadays, over 50 countries play the sport, making it the fastest-growing disability sport in the world. The sport is played by athletes with a significant physical impairment affecting all four limbs.

Karabo and his team played 2 games against Egypt, lost 3-2 in the first game, and won 7-1 in the second game with a qualifying score of seven (7) points. The total score was Egypt- 4 and South Africa- 7.

Photo: Congratulations to Karabo on his extraordinary achievements! With him is Mr Vincent Ramochela, his assistant and coach.