Sport Meets Science: How Homba Mazaleni’s Medical Background Shapes Her Content
Homba Mazaleni has turned her love of sports into a passion on social media, building an enthusiastic online community eager for her videos on the latest sports in an entertaining way. Sport has been an integral part of the content creator’s life for many years, who grew from a passionate cricketer into a biokineticist and sports scientist.
She spoke to gsport about her background in human movement science and biokinetics, and discussed her passion for sports, particularly cricket, and the growth of women’s sports in South Africa, highlighting the importance of representation and relatability in content creation, and citing personal connections to athletes as a source of inspiration.
Mazaleni, who was a top-five finalist in the 2023 Miss South Africa pageant, says she admires fellow content creators like Zenande Funani, who has previously been part of the presenter squad for the gsport Awards. She shares about her role as a biokineticist, which enhances her understanding of athlete movement and injury prevention, saying that she feels like it gives her a unique perspective when it comes to sport.
Tell us how your career in sports content creation began?
I just loved sport growing up, specifically cricket. Always played it. Then I studied human movement science. After that, I did an artist in sports science, then biokinetics.
So, sport has always been a fact in my life, and I just wanted something to bring people together, to have a sense of shared community, a community that I value, a community that I love, and also, especially being a woman in sport, I wanted to find people who have similar interests. Yeah, people have similar interests, so that we can share and create a community together.
What is it about being in sports media that makes you excited about being in the industry?
There are so many possibilities, there are so many sports to cover, there’s so much growth, especially when you look at cricket, specifically female cricket, there’s so much capacity for growth.
“And it’s just such an exciting time to be a part of something that you can see has so much potential. And I think this is literally the prime time to show that you have passion.”
And if you ask someone who’s got a lot of passion about it, speak about the things that you’re passionate about, because you never know who you’re going to be inspiring, and you never know who else is going to be out there listening.
We have seen a vast improvement in women’s sport in South Africa. As a content creator, how does this help you in your creative process as you make videos?
Of course, it’s nice to create content for people who look like you, who have similar dreams, similar relations, and also it makes the content more relatable, a little bit more exciting for me, to be quite honest with you, to cover sport, especially when it comes to rugby, football, cricket, I’ve got a lot of my friends that are busy playing there. They’re doing incredibly well for the national teams as well. So it’s nice to cover content of your friends, because it just feels that much more personal.
Who are some of your favourite female sports content creators?
A content creator that comes to mind is Zenande Funani. She’s someone whom I see a lot of myself in, and what she does, and just herself. Even the type of questions that she asks, she executes really well. I can only hope to be as good as her one day.
How are you helping to bring more awareness to women’s sport in South Africa as well as on the continent?
I think that number one, having more female sports content creators and more female sports commentators and producers, just makes it more accessible. It doesn’t make it feel like that. It’s something that’s far out of reach, because at the end of the day, you have to see yourself in someone else, to be inspired to do something, to also feel like you’ve got room, and to have a seat at the table.
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So in that, in sharing my own passions and sharing the things that I want to do when it comes to sports content creation, I think that that is the way that I’m bringing more awareness to it, is just by creating more of a platform for people to comment, for people to share, for people to enjoy this shared passion, again, that we all have.
We have seen an increase in women joining sports media, not just on the continent but around the world. As one of these women, how does it make you feel that women are now taking centre stage?
It makes me feel like I have, I have a stake in the game, to be quite honest with you, it makes me feel like I, too, have weight and my voice actually does matter, and that our voices, especially as women, matter in this game, and a game that’s typically dominated by men, I think it brings a fresh and different perspective, a different analytical eye, because, I mean, we pay attention to different things, and it’s just very, it’s refreshing. It’s that’s the word that encompasses it all.
You are also a biokineticist. How does your job help you with your sports content creation?
I was working at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, and for me, biokinetics just gives you a bigger, like, more like, a refined eye for movement. Certain things you’ll see on the pitch before, like, you’ll see a player getting tired, and you can see that an injury is on the horizon, if they shouldn’t be off the pitch soon. You. Can tell when a player is chronically overloaded. You’ve just got a refined eye for things.
You can spot chronic overload before it happens, before it even happens. So you really do develop the sense of, I don’t know, I call it like a sixth sense in terms of sport, and then in terms of the medical side, well, it’s just, you just have a deeper appreciation for how the body moves. Yeah, it’s just, I think it’s, if anyone is interested in it, they should definitely pursue it. But also, know what you’re going to do with it.
What value does gsport bring to the community?
It is a beautiful platform. For example, stories that I want to hear more about, especially when I was still following cricket as much as I used to, and when gsport was still on its rise, I got a lot of the information there.
“So I think it serves as a great place for you to get to be inspired, to be inspired.”
Especially if you’re a woman in sport, especially if you’re a girl in sport, because this is the place where you can go and get all your information that you need.
How are you hoping to further your sports content creation career in 2026?
I am absolutely in love with what I do, especially when it comes to the cricket side. I do hope to further it, to move just from ordinary content to owning something of my own, and also to partner up with a couple of teams and organisations. I really enjoy, One: Being on the SA20. Another one being, the Protea Women.
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In terms of more content to come, I am absolutely loving what we’re doing with tennis, so that’s probably what I’ll start speaking about. I would love to be involved in Formula 1 just as a challenge, because I don’t know much about the sport, but like I said before, I don’t think – as a sports scientist – there’s any support you can throw at me that I won’t be able to understand, in its basic format.
Main Photo Caption: As a biokineticist and sports scientist, Homba Mazaleni brings a refined medical eye to her work as a sports content creator, fostering a supportive community while celebrating the exciting rise and representation of women’s sport in South Africa. All Photos: Supplied
Photo 2 Caption: “I’ve got a lot of my friends that are busy playing. They’re doing incredibly well for the national teams as well. So it’s nice to cover content of your friends, because it just feels that much more personal.”
Photo 3 Caption: A stake in the game: “It makes me feel like I, too, have weight and my voice actually does matter, and that our voices, especially as women, matter in this game.”
Crédito: Link de origem