Imagine being a student at one of the best sporting universities in your country. An opportunity to learn from the best and to play in the greatest facilities available.
Well, for Steven Ball, that dream not only became a reality, but almost 30 years later, he is still there, as CEO of The High Performance Centre (hpc) at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
HPC is a partner organisation of the ISC, offering some of the best facilities for national teams, professional clubs, universities and colleges to enjoy over 72 hectares of training and recreational facilities.
Steven on the evolution of HPC:
“The University of Pretoria where we are based is 117 years old this year and sport has been part of that journey for 116 of those years. So sport is part of our DNA. Over the last 25 to 30 years, you have seen an evolution of what our sport department has been and the sport ecosystem in totality.
The establishment of the HPC in 2002, the establishment of our TuksSport High School, which is a sports academy school, the progression of performances within our athletic department has been a massive evolution and it has been really special to have witnessed that growth and those changes and see how sport has become even more engrained in the University ecosystem”
Steven on the variety of clients using HPC’s facilities:
“Over the time we have been in existence, we have had many teams staying here from around the globe, including the Swedish National Swimming Team and a delegation from the Belgian IOC. Many of our national teams and squads in South Africa use HPC as well, including a couple of cricketers who recently helped win the World Test Championship for South Africa against Australia at Lords.
A lot of teams like the fact that we are at a medium altitude, so we have all the benefits of some sort of altitude adaptation, but they can also do the intensity of training that they require.”
Steven on the state of play in South African Sport:
“We have a long way to go. You don’t fix something in 30 years that was systemic for 100 years. We have student athletes that come into our spaces that don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
I think we are often quite critical in the South African context, thinking that we have to have a system. I must be honest in saying that we don’t have a system and maybe that is our asset? Our people have always show great grit and resilience and when our backs are against the wall, we like to come out stronger. Little pockets of excellence is often what drives performance in our country in sport.
So for me, here at the HPC, we can be one of those pockets of excellence.”