Al-Qalam 
By Nabeelah Shaikh
Durban student Usaamah Vally is literally using his 1.89 m height to reach for the stars. The 21-year-old recently excelled in high jump at an international tour held in Europe. Vally is among South Africa’s best high jumpers and has maintained an unbeaten provincial record in KwaZulu-Natal for the last four years.
The Sports Science student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal placed fourth, second and third consecutively at the World Athletics Continental Tour Silver Meet held in Germany and Belgium last month.
Vally’s athletics journey began at the Orient Islamic School back in 2015.
“It all started with my former coach Mr Lux Gordhan who saw talent in me. He was the school’s head of sports at the time. He approached me and showed interest in my talent because there were running trials at school. This is when I got invested in high jump and I discovered I had a real talent for it. I also learnt there was a shortage of high jumpers in South Africa, so I decided to go all in and pursue this talent,” said Vally.
After Gordhan’s retirement, Usaamah continued to participate. At a school level, he excelled at both provincial and national championships.
“It was onwards and upwards for me from there. For one to get anywhere close to an international invitation, they would have to be consistently achieving a standard that would allow them to qualify for world championships, and this is what happened in my case,” said Vally.
To meet international standards, Vally said it requires hard work, and consistency.
“You have multiple training sessions a week, physio for maintenance of your body, and a structured diet plan, amongst other things. You would also need to have consistent meetings with sports psychologists to help with your mental health because it becomes strenuous on you. You have to treat every training session like it’s a competition and give it your all,” said Vally.
Vally said having a good team behind him in Durban was a major part of his success.
“My father and two of my coaches were some of my biggest motivators. And when it comes to my team, they’ve been great. My team includes an Olympian and other African champions from South Africa. Having this good team around me, allows us to have a good mentality going towards every training session,” said Vally.
He participated in his first international competition in 2018.
“I was in matric at the time. I competed at a competition in Botswana where I represented South Africa at a junior level. From there, I was selected for teams. In 2020, I was on the world students’ preliminary team. And thereafter being invited to participate in Europe this year, has been the cherry on top. I was shocked when I received the invite,” said Vally.
He says the competition was tough, but a great learning experience.
“A lot of people fail to realise the intensity and magnitude of competitions in Europe. You’re going up against international athletes, the top 100 in the world. This was my first major time competing at competitions out of Africa. The best part for me was that I was able to compete against former European and American champions and position against them. That was the biggest highlight for me,” said Vally.
Vally wants to encourage other youngsters to pursue their talents. “If you feel you have the talent for something and are passionate about it, go for it, even if people are telling you that you’re not going to achieve it. Even if people are telling you this isn’t for you, just defy all those stereotypes and prove everyone wrong,” said Vally.
Teachers at the Orient Islamic School said they were extremely proud of Vally’s achievements.
“The Orient Islamic School community is elated at Usaamah’s stellar achievements in high jumping at the highest levels both locally as well as on the international circuit. Usaamah has always impressed as a role model in his akhlaaq, commitment to his Hifz ul Quran and as an athlete who is goal-driven in his desire to compete against the best in the world. We have every confidence that he will scale greater heights and wish him every success as he embarks on the next stage of his international career,” said Ebrahim Ansur, Executive Headmaster at Orient Islamic School.
Vally will now continue to pursue his high jumping passions and hopes to earn more international titles in the coming years.
