A lot has been said about Gen Z and the existential crises that the generation has bestowed on popular culture. But the pack that follows, Generation Alpha, is different.
They do not need to disrupt to steer, and are growing up in a world where AI is as much a part of everyday life as physical experiences.
Benoni teenager Cailyn Smit has barely hit her teens, but she has already mapped a chart to success, and unlike Gen Z, Smit has opted for sport, albeit not the usual one.
While most South African children still grow up dreaming about rugby stadiums, cricket fields and packed soccer grounds, the 13-year-old was drawn to baseball instead.
It is a sport still largely unfamiliar to many local youngsters, yet it has already taken Smit beyond South Africa’s borders and set her on an international path that many athletes spend years chasing.
Earlier this year, she became the youngest South African girl baseball player to tour Uganda as part of the country’s first-ever U15 girls baseball side. Now, Baseball in America is in her sights.
Smit said baseball entered her life through her mom’s partner, who played the sport and coached junior players. She joined the U12 mixed team almost casually at first, but quickly realised the game felt different from anything else around her.
“Once I started doing well, I thought, ‘Okay, maybe this is a game for me.’ In that very first season, I was named the local club’s most valued player. That meant everything to me.”
Fixed on her life path
Her introduction to the sport, however, was far from polished. Smit shared that her first game played was a disaster. She walked up to bat and confidently took her stance while facing the umpire instead of the pitcher. Everybody started shouting for her to turn around.
Instead of embarrassing her out of the sport, the moment became one of those memories that still makes her laugh today.
“What keeps me coming back is the friendships and team camaraderie. The connections you make with your teammates feel like family.”
Its sense of belonging eventually shifted into ambition during the 2025 National Baseball Championships when her name was announced as part of the South African Elite training squad.
Smit said hearing her name called out made her realise baseball could become much bigger than just an after-school activity.
“I thought, ‘Wait, is this real?’ That was the moment I knew I had enough talent to make a real go at the sport.”
That was when selectors informed her she had made the South African U15 girls’ side touring Uganda.
“When the selectors phoned me that night, I cried so much I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “It was such an honour to be part of the first-ever U15 girls team, and not just as a player but as the youngest.”
America’s in her crosshairs
Uganda left a lasting impression on the teenager beyond the baseball field.
Smit said walking onto a baseball diamond that looked more like a sandpit before singing the South African national anthem in front of a welcoming crowd felt surreal. S
he also shared how eye-opening it was seeing different communities and realising how sport can connect people from completely different worlds.
Now she is preparing to represent South Africa at the Baseball for All tournament in the United States, a moment she already sees as one step closer to the dream that Smit plans to realise.
She’s busy raising the funds needed, although the going can be tough at times.
“My biggest dream is to be scouted in America one day, play for an American club, and go to university there. That would be everything.”
