A Volleyball Practice Invitation Changed Jerome’s Life

Photo Credit: Stefan Els

Jerome Fredrick was begging on the street when he was invited to volleyball practice. This moment, at the time so simple, would change his life forever, leading him to become not only Head Boy and a sports star, but also a lecturer who is now changing the lives of people in his community.

Stellenbosch, South Africa (31 March 2025) — It’s funny how the simplest moments are often entirely new pathways in disguise. A simple exchange with a stranger leads to a lifelong friendship. A small moment of courage forges a new career. For Paarl’s Jerome Boboo Fredericks, it was a humble volleyball practice invitation that would change everything.

Now a lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch, Jerome pinpoints the moment his life changed for the better to that volleyball practice invitation. What’s volleyball got to do with a career in academics? Keep reading.

See, Jerome wasn’t exactly known for being a stellar student back in his day. In fact, he’d been told he may as well become an astronaut since he wasn’t good for much on Earth. And, having failed Grade 3 certainly wasn’t great for the mood either.

But one day when he was begging on the streets and hoping for a little luck to find him, it did in the most unexpected way. No, Jerome wasn’t given a small fortune in funds to build a spaceship and become the astronaut everyone laughed about. Instead, he was given a small fortune in opportunity.

He was invited to volleyball practice. And, for the first time, he had something to believe in.

His newfound busyness didn’t just mean he no longer had the time or energy to get up to mischief. It also meant he was building connections that he otherwise wouldn’t have had, began developing skills he didn’t know he could develop, and perhaps most importantly, taught him something about purpose.

For Jerome, volleyball practice was the catalyst to a powerful mindset that became his Northstar:

“All things are possible if you just believe and work hard towards your dream.”

This wasn’t a mindset that a young Jerome knew he could have before. His mother had wanted him to manage his expectations. However, when he had to repeat Grade 3, she decided that perhaps he should start reaching for the stars after all. And that day when he learned there’d be no Grade 4 for a while, he also put his mind to task, deciding that he was going to forget the astronaut stories and become a professor instead.

“And why did I dream of becoming a professor?…It was to have my own office, sitting at my own desk, travelling the world, making an impact on people’s lives, make my mom proud and lastly—to have a whole chicken for myself. Yes, a whole chicken for myself.”

Playing volleyball might not have been how he or his mom thought he’d get to his dream (and hopefully, his full chicken) at the time, and yet that’s exactly what helped him become the person he needed to be to meet his potential.

Jerome went on to become Head Boy at his high school and played for the U19A SA Volleyball team.

He also became a lecturer in Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (a position he’s been in for almost 20 years). Not to mention, he is a keynote speaker and proudly boasts his PhD in occupational therapy. Of the latter, his thesis developed ways for taxis to increase accessibility for those in wheelchairs back home.

Jerome’s story reminds us that we can never know the significance of a moment until after the fact. In this way, we should never look down on seemingly mundane chances just because they aren’t what we asked for.

Life, as we all know, has a mysterious way of nudging us to new chapters. Sometimes, the nudge is obvious. Other times, it’s a volleyball practice invitation. The point, though, is never to assume how significant something will or won’t be in the moment. After all, the tiniest nudge can lead to the biggest page-turners.