Joey Mongalo is known for his high-profile job as the defence coach for the Bulls but his other passion is academic mentoring.

Mongalo, who went to Pretoria Boys High School (PBHS), is dedicating his time to mentoring seven boys as part of a ground-breaking academic and sports programme sponsored by Vodacom.

The boys, who come from underprivileged backgrounds, attend school at PBHS where they play rugby and study subjects like maths and English as part of the programme.

“These boys are attending one of the best schools in SA to develop not only as rugby players but also academically and culturally,” said Mongalo who has just graduated with a master's degree in industrial psychology at the University of Pretoria (UP).

“If they become provincial rugby players, then great. But it’s about more than that, it’s about them becoming good men in society, it’s about where they can be in 15 years from now. That’s the beautiful thing, that’s the opportunity.”

Mongalo’s passion for this programme comes from the opportunity he was given as a young boy.

“I’ve reached the point I have in my own life purely because one man reached out to me when I was young and was prepared to back me and walk a road with me.”

That man was the headmaster of Thornhill Primary School in Brits, Marius van Heerden.

“He introduced me to rugby and cricket. I remember the first ball I bowled flew right over the net. But he saw something in me and backed me and because of this I went on to play cricket for North West U11 and U13.

“I captained the school team and was deputy head boy. That opened the door for me to go to Pretoria Boys High and captain the first cricket team there and also play first team rugby, and then I gained a bursary to study marketing at the University of Pretoria and play junior rugby for the Vodacom Bulls.”

After coaching at the Lions for almost a decade where, among other honours, he won the U19 Currie Cup, Mongalo returned to Loftus in July 2020 as part of Jake White’s coaching staff.

“The holistic nature of this programme with Vodacom and Pretoria Boys High is what excites me. The minute it’s based on one thing, like rugby, we neglect these boys and we end up producing someone who doesn’t self-actualise to their full potential.

“Sure, we see the rugby talent of these boys. But a 15-year-old needs academic progression because the future matters. That’s where a programme like this will deliver long-term fruit.

“Good programmes, the ones that really make a difference, produce a person who can exist outside the tag of rugby player. And if I can help as somebody who has walked this road, and by investing in them like somebody once invested in me, then the natural outpouring of that is that they do the same for others one day.

“This is a case study that it can be done. We’re in a country that’s hungry for leadership, and anybody or any company that can do what’s called upon them to do, and then have the capacity to help others is the kind of leadership we need.”