“At an all time high, perfect time to say goodbye” is the phrase that succinctly describes the retirement of 27 year old full back/ wing of the reigning Currie Cup champions, the Golden Lions; Vainon Willis. Jozi Gist caught up with the superstar player less than 48 hours after his big announcement to find out what lies beyond the field.
His mother is his greatest motivation. He attributes every bit of his success to her, including his miraculous recovery after a devastating injury in 2014. She is also the only person who could possibly get him to reconsider coming out of retirement, but she wouldn’t do that. As a single mother, she had the foresight to keep her son off the streets and put him in a predominantly white school where he developed his love for sport and as we say ‘the rest is history’
Vainon was an all rounder when it came to sport, starting off as a soccer player and coming into rugby. Due to his talent, he was afforded the opportunity to go to some of the top rugby high schools in the country including Affies and Waterkloof – which are coincidentally rivals.
One of the first things you will notice about Vainon Willis, apart from his height of 1.86m, is his overwhelming humility, as cliché as it sounds, he is really a nice guy. Therefore it’s not surprise that he didn’t let the attention and adulation from his peers get to his head when he was being awarded national colours for rugby at the age of 17 or when he signed his first professional contract with the Blue Bulls at 18 years old.
Career: highlights and challenges
“I never wanted to be a professional sportsman at all. I never saw myself being a sportsman after school.” These words are very difficult to imagine from a player who was part of the Golden Lions squad that won the 2015 Currie Cup , played with the junior Springboks and was part of the Tuks ‘superstar’ squad that lifted the Varsity Cup in 2013.
Despite all his achievements in his almost decade long career Vainon does not feel like he reached the pinnacle of success in his career. When he started his career, he was confident that he would get the call join the Springboks but “paths change” as he said. Ever the optimist, he added “I wouldn’t say I have had the greatest career, there were lots of ups and downs, but I picked up lot of experience at young age that a lot of other guys didn’t get.” Although he may not have received recognition for all his hard work and effort, he is confident that he gave his best. When asked if he will make a comeback he said “No. When I make a decision, I take my time. This decision wasn’t taken lightly.”
There is sadness and disappointment as we talk about the knee injury that nearly stopped his career prematurely during the Vodacom Cup finals. He received news that he would not be able to join the Super Rugby tour as he was scheduled to fly out the next day, he counts it as one of the most difficult trials in his life. Due to his injury he was unable to practice with his team at the Golden Lions as much as he should have, but in this time he was touched by the leadership qualities and support displayed by the team captain Warren Whiteley.
On the Springboks World Cup performance:
Vainon is probably one of the few people and players in South Africa we can consider as an expert in this regard. He was signed onto the Blue Bulls team in 2006 by Heyneke Meyer , the current coach of the Springboks. “Heyneke is loyal to stalwarts and he chose the best possible side that he could choose and trust to do great in the World Cup. He chose a very experienced side and most the guys have come a long way with him.” He commends Fourie Du Preez for his stellar performace in games against New Zealand and Wales in creating opportunities for the team and refers to him as “the best scrum half in the world”.
On the issue of race relations within the sport, he acknowledged that it is a very sensitive topic and it’s a topic he would rather avoid. He did however tell us that the players are not part of the politics, they want to play the game and represent the country to the best of their abilities regardless of their race.
Back to Business
It may come as a surprise to some people, but Vainon Willis is an astute businessman. He has extensive experience in the coal industry, property development, construction and agriculture. He said if he wasn’t playing rugby he would be a trader on Wall Street, so in that vein he is setting his sights growing his business in commodities trading across Africa.
He has earned the respect of corporate South Africa because of his conduct on and off the rugby pitch. He now plays an advisory role to some companies and also acting as an ambassador for certain brands. He has his sights on partnering with an international foundation.
He won’t mention his exact steps, but there is a lot in the pipeline for the young businessman including modelling, playing polo and some work on television and radio. He promises that he will not be starting a rap career but made it very clear that his loyalties lie with Keenan Forbes, otherwise known as “AKA”.
“My main focus is to invest my time actively in all the companies I am involved in as a partner and bring the same kind of experience and work ethic, loyalty I have.” Corporate isn’t much different from the rugby pitch and Vainon Willis showed us he has what it takes to dominate in the arena, we can only expect more in the boardroom. “There are good things to come” he says with a very big smile.
He promises to keep things exciting off the pitch and for more highlights follow him on Instagram and Twitter are both @vainonwillis.