Image Source: Muslim Views
Local – Ruqayah Ismail, a first-year psychology student who once described herself as a homebody happiest with a good book, has been selected to represent South Africa at next month’s Commonwealth Fencing Championships in Lagos, Nigeria.
Her path from a school outreach programme to the national team came alongside the steady support of her coaches and family and marks a shift for someone who never previously saw herself as an athlete.
Speaking on the moment she learned of her selection to the South African fencing team, Ismail said the news left her overwhelmed before it sank in just how much the journey had been worth it.
She described staring at the letter confirming her selection for a long stretch, almost unable to process what she was looking at, before the weight of years of early mornings and missed downtime finally caught up with her.
“I was so speechless for like a solid minute. I was so shocked… and then it came to me that everything was so worth it, all the really long lessons and all of the like all the days that I showed up when everyone wanted to just relax.”
Overcoming Self-Doubt
Ismail admitted that self-doubt nearly derailed her early progress in the sport. She credited her coaches, teammates and family for steadying her through those moments, describing how their consistent reassurance helped pull her back from moments of panic before competing.
She explained that it wasn’t a single pep talk that carried her through, but a repeated, ongoing pattern of support, especially in the tense minutes before stepping onto the piste, when her coaches and teammates would remind her of why she started fencing in the first place.
“Having them always believing me and always saying, you’ve got this, you can do this… even like those moments where I’m just like freaking out … and just having them like calm me down and saying, you’re really good at this. You are doing this because you love fencing, right?”
Choosing Foil
Among fencing’s disciplines, Ismail settled on foil, a decision shaped heavily by an early coach who recognised her natural instincts for the discipline. She said the structure of foil, and particularly its right-of-way rules, suited her temperament in a way épée never quite did.
Unlike épée, where simultaneous hits can result in a shared point, foil rewards whoever initiates the attack, and Ismail said that clarity and decisiveness are part of what drew her in and kept her committed to the discipline.
“I love the rules. I like how fast it is as well. I like how technical it is because in foil we have right of way. So if I initiate an attack and we both hit, it’s my priority.”
A Message for Women’s Month
Reflecting on Women’s Month, Ismail urged other women and girls not to wait until they feel ready before pursuing their goals. By her own account, she had no experience and plenty of nerves when she first picked up a foil, and she pointed to that starting point as proof that uncertainty isn’t a reason to hold back.
She extended that message beyond athletes, encouraging mothers and women balancing multiple responsibilities to still carve out space for their own ambitions, however small that space might be.
“If you want to do something, just go for it. Do it scared. Do it unsure. Just do it… Your dreams and your aspirations, your goals are not there just because.”
