Antony Hobwana’s parents didn’t want him participating in sports as a child.

But he did… Antony Hobwana’s parents didn’t want him participating in sports as a child.

But he did anyway.

Growing up in the metropolitan Zimbabwe city of Harare, Hobwana was encouraged to focus on academics first and foremost.

His parents looked down on sports and saw them as a distraction from what they believed was the key to a successful future – education.

“I was only doing books,” Hobwana said in his deep African accent while sitting in the lobby of Sutherland Hall.

But still, Hobwana would play volleyball unbeknownst to his family for five years.

In 2006, he decided to compete in an event held by the Worldwide Scholarship, an organization dedicated to giving African athletes opportunities overseas through sports.

Hobwana’s jumping skills from volleyball led to Munya Maraire, the head coach of the scholarship’s track team, recruiting him into the program.

With no formal training, and gaining the attention of Maraire with merely his jumping abilities, Hobwana quickly began to attract attention with his running.

From there, it didn’t take long for his parents to find out.

At first, Hobwana said his parents weren’t very supportive.

“It was really hard,” Hobwana said. “All they wanted was academics.”

At times, his commitment would waiver. He would occasionally contemplate quitting track and moving to South Africa for school. He was losing money on running gear and gas to get to competitions. But through it all, he had three people who kept pushing him – his brother, his coach and his pastor.

A “very religious person,” Hobwana would often talk to his church’s pastor for advice. His coach would set up conversations between Hobwana and professional African athletes that had been in his position once. And his brother would provide what financial support he could.

“Then, with the times I was running,” Hobwana said, “I saw there was more potential in track than anything else I would like to do.”

It wasn’t until a year later when he qualified for national competition that his parents began to come around.

“When they saw that, they started realizing I had talent,” he said.

And his parents weren’t the only ones who noticed.

That same year, on April 28, Maraire brought his team to America to compete in the Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania.

While there, Hobwana managed to make an impression on Pitt track and field coach Alonzo Webb, ultimately leading to a scholarship.

With less than two years in track competition and nearly 5,000 miles between him and his home, Hobwana was thrust into a new environment under very different circumstances.

He wasn’t used to arduous training. In Africa, there was practically no training at all.

And once he got to Pitt, Hobwana was surprised how intense the workouts could get.

“I thought we were training for military or something,” he said with a laugh. “It was a big change for me.”

Now, after a year of being here, Hobwana has become more acclimated to the hard work, as well as the culture itself.

“The school here is like a family,” he said. “Back home, it’s more like people get to do what they want to do without interacting with other people. People don’t connect that much at home.”

When he looks back on his decision to continue with his track career, he wonders what his life would have been like if he’d quit.

“One thing for sure, it’d be boring,” he laughed. “Doing sports, it keeps me out of trouble,” he added. “Sports have helped me in a great way.”

He sat and pondered the possibilities before joking, “If I wasn’t doing sports I’d probably be