COME BACK STRONG

DURANG ATEMBE MAY BE YOUNG, BUT HE’S ALREADY LEARNT THAT WHEN LIFE KNOCKS YOU DOWN, YOU JUST HAVE TO KEEP GOING. THIS IS HOW HE FOUND THE STRENGTH TO CARRY ON AFTER BEING FORCED TO PUT HIS RUGBY ASPIRATIONS ON HOLD.

- MEGAN FLEMMIT

An injury to his ankle during a game against the Griquas forced Durang Atembe to hit pause on his dreams of being a professional rugby player. The flanker’s career was just taking off. He’d worked hard at school, earning a spot at Craven Week and then later at Grant Khomo, before finding a home with the Bulls U21 squad after matric.

But fate had other plans for Durang. The injury to his ankle forced him to reassess his future. “Being injured as a player is really bad for your career. I was more off the field than on it, and that was bad for my contract because they were basically paying me for nothing.” After speaking to his agent, Durang made the tough decision to take a break from the game. Playing rugby had been his life since he was 12. “It was a painful decision to make. I felt like I was losing everything and I just felt lost.”

A New Purpose

Stepping away from the game took a toll on Durang’s mental health. “I was young and I was scared about what was coming next,” he recalls. While battling to come to terms with the fact that he would no longer be playing the game he loved, Durang worked up the courage to tell his father about his decision. “I didn’t come from a rich background and playing rugby was going to be the way I gave back to them,” he explains. But despite his fears, the conversation gave him peace of mind. “He told me that everything was going to be fine. He said, ‘You’ve worked hard you entire life, you tried’.”