Bonolo Molefe became the third woman from Lewis-Clark State to earn the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) NAIA Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award. After a busy August weekend in New York, she remains modest and humble.
“Honestly, it was a shock because I didn’t know about it,” Molefe said. “I was not aware of it, or I was not even aware of if I was even nominated for something like that.”
The Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award dates back to 1982 and goes to players who have exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.
“She works tirelessly. I am amazed with what she can handle with classes, work, volunteer outreach, sports and the pursuit of happiness,” LCSC tennis coach Kai Fong said. “She is testimony to the saying ‘When there is a will, there is usually a way.’”
The junior from Botswana took part in the second-annual ITA Leadership Awards Weekend. During the weekend she joined over 20 current and former student-athletes and took part in several activities before the US Open. Those activities included volunteering at Arthur Ashe Kids Day, attending the Awards Weekend Dinner and mentoring kids at the Cary Leeds Tennis Center.
The Arthur Ashe Kids Day event was canceled due to bad weather, but had planned for over 40,000 kids and parents to take part in an event to grow the sport of tennis. Molefe would have taken part in instructional drills and played with kids who had never tried the sport before.
While the kids’ day had been canceled, Molefe was able to watch professionals like Novak Djokovic, Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur practice at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“It was insane,” Molefe said.
After attending the awards dinner ceremony at The Yale Club on Saturday night, Molefe and the other award winners went to Cary Leeds Tennis Center where they offered advice to players of all ages. Molefe said that was the highlight of her trip.
“It is so heartwarming to see someone make such good use of the opportunity to not only make life better for herself and her family,” Fong said. “But to contribute to the cultural diversity on campus in many areas.”
Molefe is often seen after a match with a player from a rival school, standing at the net for several minutes having a conversation. While she puts in the effort on the court, she seems to take just as much care into who the person is that she just competed with.
“I just like to know how people get along, what we have in common. We are always connected one way or the other. So just knowing how we are connected,” Molefe said. “They say I talk too much, but I’m like, I try to say I don’t talk too much, but they all say you talk too much.”
While the experience was great enough, the junior continued to focus on others and wondered what she could take from her experience and use it in her community. She gave a lot of credit to the people around her. How their hard work and actions are things she tries to emulate. She wanted to make sure that their actions were not going unrecognized.
“No matter how small the event is or no matter how insignificant you might think it is, you have to give it the potential that it deserves or the platform,” Molefe said. “It doesn’t matter what it is. You still need to appreciate that it’s there.”
One person she gave a lot of credit to was Fong. She said that he has instilled an atmosphere that allows people to feel like they have a home away from home. She said that between Fong and assistant coach Ryan LaPlante, there has been a large support system built, saying that they want to make sure that everyone is being taken care of and that everyone is doing their part.
“If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am,” Molefe said. “I owe it all to them.”
Fong said that Molefe’s award has elevated the program in a different way at the national level. “We so appreciate Bonolo,” Fong said. The feeling is mutual from the award winner.
“He’s our coach, but he’s not just our coach. He’s our mentor. We go to him for advice, on and off the court, job wise, recommendations,” Molefe said. “We look at him as more of a father figure than just a coach to us.”
Molefe joins 2008 award winner Shefat Baishakhi and 2004 winner Pei Yuin Keng as Warrior women to earn the ITA Arthur Ashe Award. Keng was named to the LCSC Hall of Fame in 2017.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
