From World Cup team doctor to institution builder, Dr Nthabiseng Maesela is reshaping sports medicine in Limpopo.
Katlego Sekhu
While still completing her MSc in Sports Medicine at the University of Pretoria, Dr Nthabiseng Maesela received a call-up that most doctors only dream of: team doctor for Banyana Banyana at a FIFA Women’s World Cup. She has since gone on to work with South Africa’s U16, U17 and 2025 FISU World University Games teams, treating the country’s elite athletes while still building her own qualifications.
Speaking to Fresh and Thato on Kaya Big Moves, Dr Maesela reflected on what that World Cup call-up meant at such an early stage in her career. “The things that I was learning, I was now practising them and I could see them firsthand,” she said. “It was a great experience. It was beautiful. I loved it, but definitely high pressure.”
On matchday mornings, her focus shifts entirely to readiness. “It’s all about making sure that our players are ready, making sure that we are supporting the technical team as far as we can, making sure that performance-wise, the type of food they’re eating, the nutrition, the recovery… is very important.”
A career built on concussion research
Dr Maesela’s postgraduate research focused on concussion and cognitive function in university athletes, work that began, by her own admission, out of necessity. “I needed a research topic during my master’s,” she said, “but once I got into it, I realised there’s actually so much you can research in it.”
What she uncovered became far bigger than an academic exercise. She found that many concussion symptoms closely mirror symptoms of underlying mental health conditions. “A lot of athletes may come with symptoms after a concussion and say, I’m feeling sensitivity in my eyes, I’m having headaches, I can’t sleep. You need to check if they have a mental health condition to begin with, because that also presents with those symptoms.”
This overlap makes accurate diagnosis critical, which is why she stressed the importance of pre-season baseline assessments: “That’s the most important thing for athletes out there.”
From doctor to institution builder
Dr Maesela has since moved from practitioner to founder, co-founding the Optimum Sports and Wellness Institute in Polokwane to address a clear gap. “In Limpopo, there is no high performance centre. There is no sports medicine, and that is the gap we realised,” she said.
“We have the expertise. Let’s do something.” The institute’s long-term vision is to build a high-performance centre in the province itself.
She also serves as Managing Director of CB Health Solutions, which runs the UJ Sports Clinic, and as Medical Commissioner for the Limpopo Academy of Sports.
On the business side, she was candid about the gap in medical training.
“We joke with colleagues that we wish in undergrad we were given a course on financial literacy,” she said, “because you’re running a business.”
She was equally clear that the institute isn’t just for elite athletes: “I must expound on sports medicine, that it’s not just dealing for the elite. We also have your everyday person that says, I just want to be healthy.”
To hear the full interview, listen to the podcast.
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