Banyana Banyana veteran Janine van Wyk has sent out an inspirational message to aspiring footballers as she officially bows out as a professional player.
Van Wyk made history on Tuesday as she became the most-capped African footballer, male or female, in her last match for Banyana.
She captained Banyana for the CAF Wafcon qualifier match against Burkina Faso at Lucas Moripe Stadium before being substituted in the opening 10 minutes.
She has now suppressed Egyptian legend Ahmed Hassan who has 184 International caps.
JANINE VAN WYK BOWS OUT IN STYLE, REFLECTS ON HER JOURNEY
After the match, which saw the defending champions secure their place in the tournament in Morocco, Van Wyk spoke about her journey and left a special message to the young generation.
“Every achievement or every dream that you set for yourself is a stepping stone to the next. No matter what you achieve or how successful you are, you need to remain grounded. Grounded means staying humble and disciplined in your role,” she said.
“Knowing that you are earning a greater amount of money and you are on top of the world, you have to work for anything that you want. I always say to youngsters that nothing worth it comes easy, being successful is definitely a tough job. Probably the toughest out there.
“You get challenged mentally. You get challenged every day physically and you have to put in the hard work. Sometimes you don’t want to wake up out of bed because of yesterday’s training session but you have to continue to grind the next day,” added van Wyk.
WHAT IT TOOK FOR THE BANYANA BANYANA LEGEND TO REACH THE HIGHEST LEVEL
The JVW FC founder was also presented with a special jersey by SAFA president Danny Jordan. She says her passion for the game has kept her going even during the most difficult times.
“Even when you are alone and no one is watching, that is when it actually happens the most. When you have to take care of yourself and be disciplined in what you want to achieve. Success won’t happen without failures as well. A lot of people think that success is just about winning and achieving great things but you know you have to go through some lows in your life in order to reach the highest of stages for yourself individually but also as a team collectively.
“So that is what kept me going. Most of all what has kept me alive is my passion and love for the game. I still say that if people had to say you don’t get paid to play sports, how many people would raise their hands and say to me? That would be me because it’s not about the money. It’s about the love of the game and the passion that I have for it +.”
RELATED STORY: Janine van Wyk sets new African record
