Regional Athlete Leaders: Africa

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When the Special Olympics Namibia Board of Directors needed to send a delegate to a major regional conference, they chose Athlete Leader Felicity Van der Heever. On the board’s behalf, Felicity was there, listening, thinking, and taking notes in her diary at the 2025 Special Olympics Africa Regional Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“My role was to represent the Board, to gain more information for our athletes, and to inform them how we do things back in Namibia. And to learn what must be done on the way forward,” Felicity said.

Felicity arrived at the conference with years of experience as an athlete leader and after taking numerous Athlete Leadership training courses.

A turning point in her growth as a leader came in 2023, when she returned from a youth leaders conference held during the Special Olympics World Games.

“When Felicity came back from that, she really had a good boost in her confidence, and we saw a lot of growth,” says Levien Smit, National Director of Special Olympics Namibia.

“Before 2023, I thought of myself as someone who couldn’t get things done on time. I couldn’t do things,” she says. Her leadership experience changed that. “I saw myself that I can, I can do what I couldn’t do before.”

Levien was at the Africa Regional Conference with Felicity. They were together in a session when a question was posed to the audience: “What is advocacy?” Felicity answered, “Advocacy means supporting and promoting the health and rights of athletes with intellectual disability.”

When they returned to Namibia after the conference, it was Felicity’s job to present her summary to the Program’s Board of Directors. (And to remind Levien to share the presentations they had received with the Board.) “She was really on spot,” Levien says. “She really highlighted the things that stood out, and she answered the questions from the Board really well.”

Felicity’s confidence in front of the Board has grown with time.

“It was a bit shocking at first because I didn’t have much experience as a board member,” she says, “but as time went on, I got to notice what should be done and how it should be done.”

Being chosen to represent the Board at the regional conference was a surprise.

“I was both excited and afraid,” she said. “They see the capability in me, and they believe in me. It motivates me to do more in the upcoming days.”

Some things about being an athlete representative on the Special Olympics Uganda Board of Directors make Joel Kigozi nervous. In parts of Uganda, people speak languages he does not know. Part of his work in 2025 was to go to those places to represent Special Olympics Uganda.

“At times, you might feel shy when you go to areas you have never been to in your life. You will feel shy in a place where you don’t speak the language. But you have a message to be shared,” Joel says.

Even so, he says, “I’m excited to go to places I haven’t been to. I make a lot of preparation of what I’m going to say to them in a new region.” Even with preparation, there are uncertainties, he says. “You don’t know how people will welcome your message. … It takes a lot of courage,” he adds. But that’s leadership, Joel says: “Leadership means decision-making.

It means being confident when you’re talking to people. It means sacrifice for the good of the rest.”

He says he gets his courage from the training he received and from the supportive people at his Program. In turn, Joel does his part to support others: “As the athlete representative on the board, I have always encouraged the youth, telling them, ‘Today it’s me. Tomorrow it’s going to be you when I’m not there.’ I always encourage them to be themselves and to climb up and take up these roles.”

In a music-filled Zumba studio in Harare, Zimbabwe, a Special Olympics athlete leader named Tapiwa Mutsikira caught the eye of a well-known Zumba and fitness coach.

Zororo Nhira, a fitness icon in Harare, gave him the opportunity to assist with workouts.

The experience was demanding, but Tapiwa kept at it. He earned the respect of his fitness mentor Zororo and the responsibility of running sessions by himself.

Now, Tapiwa runs aerobics and Zumba classes on his own to as many as 30 people at a time, earning money to support himself, says John Muringani, National Director for Special Olympics Zimbabwe. “I’ve seen Tapiwa growing from strength to strength,” John says. “He has self-initiative, self-drive. He can do things by himself and then come back to you and say, ‘How do you think about this?’ Then you say, ’Carry on, push it—and when you hit a wall, come back to me and I’ll direct you.’ He’s been quite amazing, to be honest.” Athlete leadership training was a prerequisite for Tapiwa to serve on the Program’s Athlete Input Council. He thrived in that position, and in December 2025, he took a seat on the Program’s Board of Directors.

“Athlete leadership changed me a lot,” Tapiwa says. “I’m giving back to the community for my brothers and my sisters with intellectual disability. I’m helping them through sports and through Athlete Leadership skills.” Like many Programs around the world, Special Olympics Zimbabwe is strong in passionate volunteers and leaders but weak in financial resources. The grants allow athlete leaders to attend meetings and trainings remotely by covering the additional cost of the cellphone data connections. Tapiwa himself also supports growth in athlete leaders as a mentor. To aspiring leaders, he offers this advice: “You need to be yourself and be confident in everything you do. Don’t be afraid of challenges.”