Jabu 'Mjepa' Ngoveni, a young man from Limpopo, whose dreams of becoming a professional footballer were dashed by a coach has found salvation in another form of the game: freestyling. He now has big dreams and wants to be considered a "living legend".
The man who, quite literally, has many tricks up his sleeve is thriving in the freestyle arena. Not only has the young 5-star-skiller learnt a lot during his time in the industry, but he also achieved so much, including become a South African champ.
Read: 'Only three players could keep up with me'
The content creator is also a Lotto freestyle winner as well as a Red Bull Street Style Champion, a competition the organisation has labelled as "the most competitive Freestyle Football competition in the world".
"I didn't think I'd become a South African champ one day," Mjepa said.
"It all came with all my hard work and it's been my dream to meet the guys from overseas because those guys are unbelievable. When you see their videos it's like they train each and every day because the sport is everywhere that side. In South Africa, it's still a developing sport."
Despite the sport not being a big deal in Mzansi, it certainly is a big deal in others. Czech Republic, for example, hosted a prestigious open competition in the Freestyle Football global circuit, Super Ball, in August this year and Mjepa was granted the opportunity to attend it.
"That's where all freestylers meet just to make other friends from different countries. That's where you feel the sport and make new friends."
However, before he reached the level he finds himself at today, he was required to put in many hours of sweat-inducing practice and credited a large portion of his work ethic and training routine to someone he looked up to while making his name, Polish freestyler Syzmo Skalski.
"Back in 2018, I managed to meet that guy and that's what I wanted to know because some other guys they train like one hour so that guy gave me that strong belief and he said he's training four hours per day: in the morning, afternoon and evening. His routine eventually helped me so it's changed my life.
"Freestyle basically, I can say, has changed my life even though it's still a developing sport. I got recognised when I used to bask around different township or provinces trying to market myself. Indeed, my dream came true because my video went viral; I got calls, I got emails, some day they used to mention me in my social media."
After achieving much success in the freestyling industry, Mjepa has now set his sights on breaking a few records!
"Yes, I would like to have one victory for Guinness World Record. I haven't broken anything for now because I'm still working on it. I have my own signature move so definitely when I enter that competition I'm looking forward to being the champ or breaking that record."
Despite all of the things that Mjepa has achieved in his blossoming freestyle career, he is determined to do even bigger things.
"I want to open my own academy and I wouldn't be here if I didn't love the sport because I've invested so much time to become who I am today. So, I just want to open a football freestyle academy. Just to teach kids. To those who have the same potential as mine; just for kids to stay away from the street.
"I just want to travel the world and showcase my skills and teach the footballers how to beat a defender. Now I'm planning to approach all PSL teams just to create the content with two players or one player. That's my dream. just to get more gigs; endorsements. I just want to be a living legend."
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