Online Reporter
Blessing Malinganiza
Zimpapers Sports Hub
NINE years ago on May 25, Warriors and FC Cincinnati defender Teenage Hadebe’s world changed forever.
He lost his mother, Sellinah, a woman he credits as his first coach, fiercest critic and loudest cheerleader.
He was still young, trying to find his feet in the unforgiving world of football.
He had just joined Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa. The grief, he later admitted, nearly made him quit.
But the loss, for Hadebe, became the fuel he needed. Every time he steps onto the pitch, whether for the Warriors or his club, he carries her memory visibly.
Fans have long noticed the plain vest he wears beneath his jersey.
While teammates flash branded undershirts, Hadebe’s is personal, printed in faded but bold letters across the chest are the words:
“My Mother’s Blessings.”
The tribute was so significant that it inspired his first tattoo, which bore the same title.
“I feel her warmth under the shirt,” he said.
“When I am tired and into the thick of action, I touch my chest, and I remember who believed in me first.”
This year, ahead of the ninth anniversary of her passing, Hadebe decided to honour her once again with a second tattoo, this time a more personal tribute.
On the left side of his neck, just below his jaw, is inked the name “Sellinah”.
The tattoo cascades down towards his chest, where the name merges with a small blooming lily and the date of her passing.
Unlike many athletes, who hide ink beneath sleeves, Hadebe says he wants his mother’s name to remain visible.
“When I go for a header, my neck stretches. The camera sees it. My opponents see it. She sees it,” he said.
“I used to play for scouts, for contracts, for trophies. Now I play so that people keep saying her name. Sellinah. My mother.”
Hadebe, who is currently recovering from injury, missed the Warriors’ recent camp for the Unity Cup in London as he continues his rehabilitation.
