Clayton State University Athletics

Former Clayton State Men's Soccer Student-Athlete Roger Boniface Featured on Cover of Forbes Africa

Former Clayton State men's soccer player Roger Boniface (Johannesburg, South Africa) has been featured on the cover of Forbes Africa as one of their Under 30 top entrepreneurs on the continent.
 
According to the magazine itself, which is in its fourth year of producing the list, the 2018 Forbes Africa Under 30 is designed to be the most definitive list of Africa's most promising young change makers. This is the first year it has expanded the list to 30 as a result of the sheer increase of impressive people under that age.
 
It includes 30 individuals in three different sectors, which range from business, technology and creative. Boniface appears in the business section. Each was determined after sifting through more than 600 nominations. Below is the excerpt from Boniface's section, specifically as the founder of EDISIM.
 
Business Section – Boniface Excerpt
Boniface is the founder of EDISIM, a training provider that uses simulation to bring real-world learning experiences to the classroom. In less than three years, he has integrated the business simulations into some of Africa's top business schools. He lectures at Wits and GIBS in South Africa and Strathmore Business School in Nairobi.
 
"I spend my weekends at different flea markets around Johannesburg and Pretoria and there is no better way to learn about business. My first counterfeit note experience happened at a flea market. I got paid for something I sold with a counterfeit R100 ($8) note," says Boniface, also the founder of Artson, an events company that hosts art and wine tasting experiences to explore and develop the creativity that people often lose throughout the conveyor belt of life. He also runs JCB, a small textile wholesaler concentrating on the promotional market and mainly focusing on t-shirts, golf shirts and caps. While this business has been successful for over 30 years, Boniface has been running it since 2015. He turns over about R13 million ($1 million) a year.
 
About Boniface's Clayton State Playing Career
A defender, Boniface played in 74 games, starting 67, over the course of a four-year career with the Lakers from 2008-11. He logged 5,485 career minutes while scoring three goals and dishing out six assists for 12 points. He was also named the Peach Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week on September 1, 2009.
 
In his time in Morrow, Clayton State won the 2010 PBC Regular Season Championship as they posted a 19-4 overall record and 7-1 league mark. That performance resulted in the program's sixth, and most recent, NCAA Division II Tournament appearance. With Boniface anchoring the defense, Clayton State would go on to win the Southeast Regional and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. They would barely fall, 3-2 in overtime, to Rollins in the National Semifinals.
 
In His Own Words
Upon the release of the article, Boniface was happy to share his thoughts with www.ClaytonStateSports.com about the impact that Clayton State, both Athletics and the University, had on his current success.
 
If you asked me 10 years ago what would be more likely, to make the Clayton State men's soccer team starting line up or the cover of Forbes Africa magazine? I would have said neither but it seems strange things do happen, haha.
 
We had a great soccer team at Clayton, some of our guys even went pro. No matter how good we were on the field I think we were even better off it. We had a great time and my teammates from then are my best mates now. We were very lucky to get that quality onto one team and have such a supportive and well run athletics department. It is not often you get either of those and we had both.
 
I was extremely lucky to be at Clayton and I owe a huge amount of gratitude towards the Athletics Department, specifically Coach Pete Petersen, Karl Haggon and Gareth O'Sullivan. Between the three of them I had fantastic coaches and mentors. I have many other people to thank behind the scenes as well. I know you don't run a tight ship without people like Ms. Pat Keane and great support from President [Dr. Tim] Hynes.
 
Aside from athletics I had a fantastic experience with the business school. Some of the professors I still keep in touch with today. After getting a little more working experience you start to appreciate your professors as you realize what they have actually achieved in their lives.
 
It has come as a shock to be on the cover of Forbes Africa magazine and I feel incredibly proud and lucky. I do owe a huge amount of gratitude towards Clayton State as it was not only the best chapter of my life but the most influential.
 
From Head Coach Pete Petersen
Boniface wasn't the only one to speak on his time at Clayton State. Petersen saw much of what has made his former player successful early on.
 
"The first month Roger landed on campus in 2008, he somehow had a cell phone, bank account, social security number, bought a used car, had a license, insurance and registered for classes before registration opened - if that was possible ...," said Petersen. "Meaning, he was so proactive and so ahead of his peers, my words to my staff were 'he will be the first multi-millionaire of all the Clayton state soccer alum who have passed through these halls'. So proud of him!"