By Nangamso Mabindla

Philasizwe Ndevu, a second-year sports management and coaching student at Buffalo City Further Education and Training College, brought a gold medal back from the recent All Africa Games in Abuja, Nigeria, as part of South Africa's winning baseball squad.

On his return home, there were no ticker-tape parades for the 22-year-old, no crowds to greet him at the airport. "It's really sad that so little interest is shown in baseball," Ndevu said. "The only people who know of my achievement were my family and my baseball teammates."

Ndevu's wish is for baseball to be a national sport and get the recognition accorded to soccer, rugby, cricket and boxing. "That really is one of my dreams," he said.

Unlike the big four of sport, baseball is not well represented in the province. While the Eastern Cape is the largest province in South Africa, it has only one baseball team: the Eagles, which is based in Mdantsane and is Ndevu's home-team.

Limited competition makes it difficult for players to get the experience they need to go further. "I was the only player representing the Eastern Cape in the South African baseball team," Ndevu said. "It is an honour but, at the same time, makes me feel sad because it shows the sport is not recognised in the province."

Next year, Ndevu plans to pursue his baseball career in Cape Town, where he believes he will be able to hone his skills by competing with some of South Africa's finest players. "In leagues there, players compete every weekend. In East London, we only play when there are provincial competitions."

Ndevu says he will return to the Eastern Cape after his stint in Cape Town.

"The reason I'm doing the college course in sports management and coaching is because I want to give something back to baseball when I retire," he says. "I want to coach youngsters in my community so that, someday, one of them makes it at the highest level."

His biggest dream, of course, is to play in the major league in the US. "That is the ultimate dream for every baseball player. But if things don't go my way, I'd be happy to assist in the development of the sport in the country."

Ndevu played in the national squad under-16, under-18, under-21 and under-23 squads. Next year, he hopes to represent South Africa at the Olympics, which will be held in Athens, Greece.

In the meantime, he is taking things one step at a time. South Africa has never before sent a baseball team to the Olympics and Ndevu's immediate goal is to help South Africa qualify. He will be leaving with the team to compete in Australia for the qualifying leg of the Olympics, which begin in January 2004.

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