It has been a year in which highlight has succeeded highlight, in which one honour bestowed succeeded another. Christa Ramasimong is experiencing a time that will not only shape her future, but her very being. The character of the young woman is being moulded in a furnace fired by her resolve to succeed.  

This North-West University (NWU) student has been included in the South African squad for the upcoming FIH Women’s Hockey World Cup tournament that will be held in Spain and the Netherlands from 1 to 17 July. If her services are called upon during the tournament, she will earn her first national senior cap.

Her selection follows the recently held FIH Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup that was held in Potchefstroom and hosted by the NWU. Christa captained the South African team with aplomb during the tournament in a performance that meant higher honours would surely beckon.

And they did.

“I am very excited. It is always an honour and a privilege to represent your country. Coming from a junior set-up and having been involved in such a massive tournament (the Women’s Hockey Junior World Cup), then moving into the senior set-up is one of my greatest achievements. To be part of the senior World Cup team is going to be a huge experience. We are going to be able to showcase what South Africa is all about. To be able to participate in a huge tournament such as the coming World Cup means my hockey career is really starting to take off. I think it has been going well and as a junior player this is only the beginning for me. I feel it is all hard work, determination, good time management and enjoying the game from here. It is about living my passion,” says Christa. 

In the years to come, Christa Ramasimong will look back at 2022 as a defining time in her career, both as athlete and as person. It will be a fond memory.