The University of the Western Cape (UWC) prides itself on giving its students the best of both worlds – success in achieving their academic goals and in their sporting careers, too – and Amogelang Motau has done just that.

On Thursday, the Banyana Banyana star was capped with her Bachelor of Administration degree, joining a long list of university sports people to graduate in Autumn Graduation.

WATCH: What is a Bachelor of Administration degree?

"Winning the AWCON with Banyana Banyana last year and graduating today are the highlights of my career to date," the Limpopo-born Motau said. "These are things I have been working towards for many years."
 

Playing for UWC in the Hollywoodbets Super League, which requires travelling around the country every second week, and getting the nod for the national team, have made Motau's journey to graduation more challenging as she often finds it impossible to strike a balance between the two.

"I don't think there is ever a balance between school and sport at the level we are playing at. You just have to prioritise; if you need to prioritise school, you must do that, even if it means missing some training sessions. Sometimes there is a big game, and there are exams. You have to choose because you don't always have the option to do it later. It's all about prioritising, and it’s up to the individual which one to prioritise at that time".

Motau developed her football skills when she started playing soccer with boys in her community at age seven. She then joined a Sasol League team called Kanatla Ladies in Polokwane. She was scouted by the South African Football Association for their High Performance Centre in Pretoria to be prepared for junior national teams, after she represented a Limpopo provincial team.

She journeyed down to UWC in the footsteps of her academy colleagues, such as Thembi Kgatlana, who had joined the university two years prior. Motau then joined Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma to pursue her studies and football career, but an injury cut short her stay in the US, and she returned to UWC.

She has played for both U17 and U20 national teams and made her senior national debut in 2016 to join her role model, Amanda Dlamini.

"Amanda Dlamini has been and is still a huge inspiration for me - one of the best midfielders for Banyana. I wanted to be like her and was lucky to have played with her."

One of her goals, Motau's advice to the up-and-coming stars, is to trust the process. "As simple as it sounds, it is very profound, especially in our society where it is easy to compare your journey to other people's journey. My advice is to work towards something every day. Most of the time, when we have an end goal, we focus on that a lot. But really, the gems are in the journey - that you get to grow and to work hard towards some things. And don't compare your journey to other people's journey."