The FISU World University Championship Squash held in Johannesburg, South Africa last September was a particularly special competition for local player Reuel Videler, and not just because of the home court advantage.
Looking back at 2024, Reuel Videler, a final-year biokinetics student from North West University who was selected to captain the South African side in their home tournament, he ranks this right up there as one of his greatest achievements.
“It was such an honour to represent South Africa, and to be selected to captain the team was just such a privilege,” he tells FISU.net. “Captaining and representing South Africa at this year’s FISU Champs is a memory I’ll cherish forever.”
Reuel had represented his country previously at the New Giza 2022 FISU World University Championship squash in Egypt, which he says definitely helped him better-prepare for this year’s edition.
“The previous FISU championships definitely helped in preparing for this tournament, but I must say this one was way more special as we were the host nation,” says Reuel Videler. “We had a lot of support and we were an extremely close-knit team.”
Despite the results on the court not going South Africa’s way, Reuel feels the team’s unity and spirit was one of his biggest takeaways from the event.
Showing strong unity
“We all knew one another pretty well before entering the competition as many of us had competed locally against each other, but this was no problem at all,” he says. “We made sure to have team huddles every morning to ensure spirits were high, and being such a close team with awesome people, we constantly checked up on one another’s mental states and how we were all feeling. Then once we put on that South African kit, we served a bigger purpose, which was flying SA’s flag high.”
On a personal level, the 22-year-old is targeting a spot in South Africa’s senior squash team in the near future, and is looking forward to see how far the sport can take him in his young career so far.
“I have a goal of supporting a family one day, but I know making a living off of playing squash is tough. I would however love to see how far this sport takes me and what I can do. I am putting in more effort now and working harder than ever before. After I graduate this year I am going to do a degree in business while giving squash a proper go!”
Written by Fabio de Dominicis, pictures courtesy of Reuel Videler
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